Mrs & Mrs Woods
by Knich94
Summary: After five (or six) years of happiness together, ordinary couple Clarke and Lexa Woods find themselves stuck in a rut. However, unknown to each other, they are both deadly, highly paid assassins working for rival businesses. After a hit gone wrong, they discover that they are each other's next target. Their secret lives (and they) collide explosively. Or The Mr. and Mrs. Smith AU
1. Couples Therapy

Dr. Nyko sits in his office for his last appointment of the day, staring at the two women before him. They sit there, together, but separate. Together as a couple in marriage counseling, but separated physically in their own chairs and emotionally in their behaviors. They sit stiff and formal in their business suits, the epitome of a power couple; yet they somehow are missing the most important thing: the couple part. The blonde woman on the left, dressed smartly in a tight black skirt with a blue blouse, begins to speak first, with a smile, as if in attempt to hasten this encounter.

"Ok, I'll start us off. Let me just preface this by saying that we don't really need to be here. See, we've been married 5 years…"

"Six." The fierce looking brunette on her right simply states.

"Five, six years," the blonde continues on, "and this is like a check up for us. Umm… a chance to poke around the engine, maybe change the oil… God I've been spending too much time with Raven…"

The blonde looks down at her wrist and fiddles with her watch nervously, as the brunette smiles politely while removing her suit jacket and rolling up the sleeves of her blouse.

"Very well then, let's pop the hood!" Dr. Nyko cheerily states. "On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you as a couple?"

"Eight." The brunette responds immediately.

"Wait," the blonde says with a confused frown on her face, "ten being perfectly happy, or one being totally miserable?"

The brunette continues to sit impassively, but a small, annoyed frown is just barely distinguishable on her face. In a mollifying voice, Dr. Nyko replies, "just respond instinctively."

The blonde's confused frown disappears. "Ok. Ready?" she asks her partner.

"Ready." The brunette states with a sharp nod of her head.

They both reply simultaneously, "eight."

Deciding to venture into the more difficult questions, Dr. Nyko asks, "How often do you have sex?"

The brunette responds first this time. "I don't understand the question." She states with a just barely perceptible puzzled set to her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm lost." The blonde follows. "Is this a one to ten thing?"

"Is one nothing, or is one very little? Because technically, zero would be nothing." The brunette replies, in a lecturing manner to Dr. Nyko.

Dr. Nyko decides not to respond to that last subtle jibe, and instead asks, "how about this past month?"

Both women look off into the distance, racking their brains for the answer to the question. After a long, awkward silence, with both parties appearing to become more uncomfortable by the second, he decides to move on. "How about you describe how you first met."

A small smile appears on the brunette's face, as she says, "well, it was in Columbia."

"Bogotá," the blonde says with a large grin, evidently filled with memories. "Five years ago."

"Six" the brunette reminds the blonde, the stoic look once again returning to her face.

"Right, five or six years ago." The blonde affirms, slightly uncomfortable once again.

* * *

 **AN:** Hi everyone! I know this has been done before but Mr. and Mrs. Smith is one of my favorite movies, so I decided to do it anyways, especially after I saw the edit of the movie poster. It's my first fan fiction, so I will take all criticism and help gladly! It's going to follow the movie very closely, especially in the beginning, but I am going to try to work in as many characters and new things as I can think of. I own nothing in this story. I don't own the characters from either work or the work themselves, so please don't sue me. I have no money anyways, I'm a broke college student. It's also posted on Archive of Our Own under the same title.


	2. Bogotá Pt 1

Five or six years ago…

The blonde woman sits at the bar, dressed casually in a flowy white top and canvas pants, drinking tequila while reading the newspaper. She sits there calmly, despite the increasing cacophony of sirens and people loudly chattering in the background. She finishes a shot in one sip, then looks up as she hears gunshots. Turning towards the entrance of the hotel, she sees five policemen stride into the room, speaking loudly in Spanish. She turns to the bartender for answers.

"Hey, _¿qué pasá?_ " She asks the bartender.

" _Someone shot the president. The police are looking for tourists traveling alone."_ He responds.

She glances towards the police, somewhat nervously, until she is spotted. She attempts to play it off by striking a casual pose against the bar, even as one begins to question her.

" _Are you alone_ , _señorita_?" he asks her in Spanish.

She pretends not to understand him, shooting him a questioning look.

" _Are you alone_?" The policeman says, more forcefully this time.

At that moment, her attention is drawn to a beautiful brunette woman wearing a loose white dress bursting through the doors, quickly followed by several police officers loudly questioning her and asking for her _papeles_. Unseen to everyone, the brunette covertly slips a knife into the holster on her upper thigh, then stops in the middle of the room, standing proud and strong despite the police swarming around her.

Their eyes meet across the room, drawn to each other. After a silent exchange, the brunette finally answers one of the policemen.

" _Are you alone, señorita_?"

"No," the brunette replies with a slight smirk on her face, as she begins to make her way towards the blonde with a confident strut.

The blonde in turn begins a confident swagger towards the brunette, subtly lifting her shirttails to hide the gun holstered at her back. "No, no, no. _Está bien_. She's with me. _Está bien_." The blonde says to the police as she reaches out towards the brunette. They link hands and leave the lobby together, calmly entering the blonde's room.

After locking the door, they both press their ears to it, listening as police pound on the doors next to their room, questioning other hotel patrons.

"I'm Lexa." The brunette whispers.

"Clarke." The blonde says, holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Lexa says with a grin, taking the hand.

"Likewise." Clarke says.

Neither relinquishing their grip on the other's hand, they continue to smirk at each other.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry it's so short, but I'm anticipating that the chapters will be getting longer as the action begins!


	3. Bogotá Pt 2

**AN:** Warning there is some sexy times but nothing too graphic.

* * *

"To dodging bullets." Clarke says to Lexa, holding up her shot glass.

"To dodging bullets." Lexa affirms, clinking their glasses before they both toss back their shots.

The outdoor bar where they are sitting is playing slow, sensual music, and Clarke can't help but give Lexa a grin as she gets up to dance. Grabbing another shot from the bar on her way, she turns to look back at Lexa with a seductive look, "You comin' or what?" She grins, tosses the shot back, and casually drops the empty glass into a nearby fire, causing the flames to flare. As couples sway around her, she lifts her hands above her head and begins to sway her hips. The light blue material of the dress that she changed into before heading to the bar shimmers in the firelight as she drops one of her hands from above her head and crooks a finger at Lexa indicating for her to come here.

Lexa, helpless to resist, rises and slowly makes her way over to Clarke. Tentatively, she reaches her and places her hands on Clarke's hips.

"I'm no good at this," Lexa says shyly, with enough hesitance that Clarke gets the feeling Lexa isn't just talking about dancing.

"That's ok, cuz I am," Clarke replies, wrapping her arms around Lexa's neck and pulling them closer until their faces are only inches apart.

They sway back and forth for several moments, until Lexa gives Clarke a mischievous grin. Suddenly, she twirls Clarke around and dips her, before returning them back to their original position. Their eyes meet again, the heat building between them, until thunder sounds in the distance.

As Lexa looks up at the sky, her grip on Clarke's hips loosens. Taking advantage, Clarke turns in Lexa's arms, so that she can grind her ass against Lexa. Lexa lets out a low groan, gripping Clarke's hips tighter. Clarke glances over her shoulder at Lexa as she grabs Lexa's ass, pulling Lexa tighter into her. Lexa begins to nuzzle her neck and lay soft kisses on it. This time, it's Clarke that lets out a soft moan.

Rain begins to fall, and the rest of the patrons begin to flee indoors. The music stops, but that doesn't stop Clarke. She walks out of Lexa's hold, grabbing her hand as she walks towards the bar, dragging Lexa behind her. She grabs a bottle of tequila from behind the bar and sits down at a table, pulling Lexa down on top of her. Lexa hikes up her dress and straddles Clarke as the rain begins to fall harder. Clarke takes a swig from the bottle, then holds it up to Lexa, who takes a sip as well. Clarke, seeing Lexa's throat swallowing the tequila just inches in front of her, surges upward and begins to lay kisses on it, heading up until she connects their lips, softly at first, then more passionately.

As they continue to kiss, Clarke's left hand leaves Lexa's hip and travels up her ribs cupping her right breast. Lexa groans and presses herself harder into Clarke, gripping the back of Clarke's neck more forcefully, deepening the kiss as she grinds herself into Clarke. Clarke drops the bottle of tequila, and it smashes on the ground, startling both women from their embrace. They sit there staring into each other's eyes, breathing hard, when suddenly they both spring up. Grabbing each other's hands, they run through the rain into the hotel, smiling widely at each other as they run through the halls soaking wet. Clarke stops at the elevator, but Lexa drags her past it to the stairs.

"Too slow." Lexa states, grinning over her shoulder at Clarke.

When they get to Clarke's door, Lexa pushes her against it, kissing her softly, slowly, passionately in a way they hadn't kissed before. As Lexa pulls back, Clarke's eyes slowly drift open, stunned. Lexa smirks, grabbing the key and unlocking the door. As Clarke begins to fall backwards, Lexa wraps her arms around Clarke, gripping her ass and lifting her up. Clarke wraps her legs around Lexa's hips as Lexa carries her into the room and drops them onto the bed after kicking the door shut…

* * *

Clarke awakens as sunlight hits her eyes. Trying to remember what happened, she looks around and sits up in the bed, wrapping her naked body in the sheets. The hazy memories come back to her, and she looks around hoping to find Lexa, but the room is empty. Somewhat disappointed that apparently Lexa didn't stay, she stretches and moves to get up, until she hears the door. She tenses slightly, preparing herself for the unknown.

Clarke grins when she sees Lexa walking through the door, dressed in her white dress again, carrying a tray.

"You're the one who left me alone in bed this morning." Clarke says in a chastising tone through her smile.

"You're the one who took me to bed last night," Lexa says with a smirk, walking towards Clarke. "I think room service fled, but I managed to find us some sustenance." Lexa places the tray with a plate of fruit and two cups on Clarke's lap and gives her a sweet smile, picking up a cup of coffee for herself.

"Thanks," Clarke says, returning the smile and picking up her own cup of coffee. She takes a sip and hums her appreciation. "Shit that's good."

"It better be. I had to kill someone to get it." Lexa says seriously, but then she smiles as she stands up and heads toward the balcony to look out at the city. Various parts of the city are on fire, and the noise from riots can be heard, but she surveys it all calmly.

Tearing her eyes away from Lexa, Clarke reaches for the newspaper on the tray and finds a small, deep blue-colored flower wrapped in it. Picking it up, she puts it behind her ear, looking at Lexa with slight grin on her face.

Lexa returns Clarke's look with her own small, sweet smile. "It reminded me of your eyes," she says shyly.

Holding the sheets around her, Clarke gets up and joins Lexa on the balcony. She leans against the railing, smirking, until Lexa reaches for her. Lexa's hands go to Clarke's waist, and Clarke's hands cup Lexa's cheeks as they kiss once again. As Clarke deepens the kiss, Lexa drops her coffee cup over the balcony to shatter onto the pavement below, allowing her hands to roam more freely over Clarke's back. As they continue kissing, Clarke turns them, pushing them towards the bed…

* * *

 **AN:** This chapter is longer and more what I'm hoping the rest of them will be like in terms of Clexa interactions, length, etc.


	4. Beginner

**AN:** Trigedasleng is in italics. Translations at the end.

* * *

Back in America…

Clarke and Lexa stroll through the carnival holding hands and taking in the sights. They are dressed casually, both wearing jeans and hoodies to ward off the chill. Despite their apparent preoccupation with each other, Lexa still manages to note the undercover police officer 20 feet to their right, and Clarke notes the 3 possible exits she could reach in less than five seconds.

A vender approaches the couple, asking them if they want to play the sharp shooting game he is working. "Step right up if you think you have what it takes to hit the bulls eye! Ladies, either of you want to give it a go? Only five dollars!"

Clarke looks at Lexa. "Wanna try?"

Lexa replies with a "sure," giving Clarke a smile and leading her to the game. Looking at the gun hesitantly, she picks it up awkwardly.

"Here, let me show you how to hold it." Clarke says, stepping up behind Lexa and helping her position the butt of the rifle at her right shoulder while holding the stock in her left hand.

"Like this?" Lexa asks Clarke.

"Perfect." Clarke answers, grinning as she lowers her hands onto Lexa's hips.

"I think this was just an excuse for you to put your hands on me." Lexa says, as she purposely lets her left elbow bend to throw off her shot.

"Babe, I don't need an excuse to put my hands on you." Clarke quips back into Lexa's ear as Lexa begins to take her shots.

Smiling, Lexa shoots five times, missing all except one. Once she's done, she looks over her shoulder to find Clarke giggling at her. "Stop laughing at me!" Lexa says with an affronted smile on her face as she gently shoves Clarke.

Clarke continues to grin as she picks up her gun. "Watch and see how it's done. You have to _aim_." Clarke instructs her. Clarke proceeds to hit all the moving targets, except one. The smile falls from Lexa's face with each target Clarke hits.

"Sir, do we still get a prize?" Clarke asks the attendant. Seeing the stoic look on Lexa's face, Clarke puts her hand on Lexa's shoulder and shrugs off her success with a small smile, "just beginner's luck I guess, babe."

As the attendant hands Clarke a small stuffed lion, Lexa looks at Clarke with a determined expression, telling her, "I want to do it again."

Resigned to losing another five dollars, Clarke hands the attendant the cash. This time, Lexa picks up the gun confidently and quickly fires off five shots, hitting a target each time. As she lowers the gun, she allows a smirk to form on her face in satisfaction.

Clarke looks at her completely awed. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" she asks Lexa, as the attendant hands Lexa a large stuffed raccoon.

Picking up her prize, Lexa innocently says, "beginner's luck."

Clarke simply smiles in disbelief, wraps her arm around Lexa's waist, and leads them into the crowd. "Shut up. Let's go eat some funnel cake."

* * *

"Hold up. You've only known her for six weeks!" Anya exclaims after Lexa dodges a jab headed towards her face.

"I'm in love. She's smart, beautiful, strong." Lexa punctuates each word with a hit aimed at Anya's face, each of which Anya blocks. "She's caring. She challenges me. She's _special_." Lexa emphasizes 'special' with a kick aimed at Anya's ribs.

Anya grabs Lexa's leg and flips her to the mat. Anya grapples with Lexa in an attempt to pin her, "Lexa, I'm happy for you, but after Costia, I don't want you to rush into anything. You're finally back to yourself, not just _Heda_. I don't want _you_ to lose _Leksa_ again; _I_ don't want to lose you again."

"Anya…" Lexa begins, just as Anya succeeds in putting her in a headlock. Lexa grunts, and then manages to slip the hold. The fight continues, both women wrestling for control. When Lexa gains the upper hand, she states, "She's an artist, Anya. She's safe. No one is going to hurt her. She spends just as much of her time working as I do. It's perfect… I love her."

Anya looks up at Lexa, and as she flips Lexa to the mat again, she tells Lexa, " _Hodnes laik kwelnes_ , _Leksa._ "

A fire enters Lexa's eyes, and she proceeds to flip Anya once again, this time immobilizing her completely. Anya struggles for several minutes, then concedes defeat by tapping out. Lexa stands, holding out her hand to help her former mentor up. " _Hodnes laik uf, Onya_. Clarke taught me that."

* * *

"So, you don't think this is all happening a little fast?" Octavia yells to Clarke.

Clarke adjusts the rope tethering them to the cliff, 1000 feet above the ground, and then proceeds to continue her upward climb. "C'mon O, you practically moved in with Lincoln after two weeks."

"That was different!" she grunts as she struggles to reach a handhold just out of her reach.

"How?" Clarke retorts as she finds a good foothold and pushes herself upwards.

Before Octavia can respond, Raven interrupts. "What does she even do?"

"She's a lawyer. Works for a big firm downtown." Clarke replies, looking up to see that they are close to the top.

"A lawyer? A professional arguer with stubborn Clarke Griffin? I give it, 6 months, that's it." Raven says with a laugh.

"Bet you 100 dollars it ends in 4 months," Octavia yells over Clarke to Raven.

Clarke heaves herself over the edge and stands at the top of the cliff, waiting for the other two. As they pull themselves over the top and lay on the ground catching their breaths, Clarke looks down at them and says, "Hey guys, if you would take your heads out of your assholes, you would have actually noticed this." Holding up her left hand, Clarke displays a ring on her fourth finger. "She asked me to marry her last night." Clarke says with a big grin on her face.

"What?" Raven and Octavia both sit up and yell at the same time.

Smiling Clarke tells them, "First one down gets to be my maid-of-honor." She backs up and takes a running jump off the cliff. Raven and Octavia watch as, a few seconds later, her parachute deploys.

"I hate it when she does that." Raven says.

"Why can't she just climb down like a normal person? Fucking sky princess," Octavia shakes her head, gets up, and begins preparations for her and Raven's climb down, ensuring that there's a knot in Raven's rope that Raven will have to untangle later. There's no way in hell she's not going to be Clarke's maid-of-honor.

* * *

 _Heda_ : commander

 _Hodnes laik kwelnes_ : love is weakness

 _Hodnes laik uf_ : love is strength


	5. Five or Six Years Later

Present day

Clarke stands outside her house that morning in her blue nightdress and robe holding her coffee, waiting for the newspaper. Her house – big, white, and two stories with columns and a perfectly manicured lawn - is simply one of the many other uniform homes on the street. As her neighbors start leaving for work or school, she waits for the newspaper, like she does every morning. As a boy on a bike throws the paper at her feet, she looks up to see her neighbor, also waiting for his newspaper, smiling at her, like he does every morning. She obliges him with a short nod, and then picks up the paper and heads inside. Just as she sits down at the table, Lexa is finishing her egg white omelet. Clarke tosses Lexa the political section and sits down to read the rest of the paper and finish her coffee. They smile at each other, silently, before continuing on with their respective routines.

Lexa heads upstairs and begins brushing her teeth as she reads. Just as she is finishing, she sees Clarke enter the bathroom behind her. Clarke takes off her robe and tosses it on the ground, then proceeds to brush her own teeth.

"You should hang that up." Lexa tells Clarke as she walks into the closet to begin to dress for work.

"Mm-hmm" Clarke mumbles through her toothpaste foamy mouth.

Lexa returns from the closet, holding a black pantsuit in one hand and black lacy underwear in the other, and begins to strip. Clarke passes by her with barely a second glance to get her own suit, choosing a navy blue skirt and blazer and her own white lace underwear.

"What did you think of Dr. Nyko?" Clarke says, reaching behind her back to fasten her bra.

"He was fine." Lexa looks up from buttoning her blouse.

"That's all you have to say?" Clarke stops dressing to pointedly stare at Lexa.

"Ummm… Yes?" Lexa replies. As Clarke's countenance begins to morph into anger, Lexa quickly adds, "I was not fond of his questions, but maybe he just needs time for his methods to be effective?"

"I agree, but he comes highly recommended so it can't hurt to give him another chance. We have another appointment today, at 5. I will be heading there straight from the gallery." Clarke says, as she resumes dressing.

"Five means we hit rush hour traffic… I hate traffic." Lexa says as she slips on her heels.

Clarke looks up in frustration, only to find Lexa already on her way out of the bedroom. Clarke calls after her, "see you there then. Also, it's your turn to cook, what time is dinner?"

Lexa stops at the top of the stairs. "Dinner's at seven" she calls back through the bedroom door to Clarke. "I'm making your favorite." She adds in a quieter tone.

"Ok, I'll be there," Clarke responds.

Lexa lets out a soft sigh as she makes her way down the stairs and to the garage. Unlocking her black Mercedes-Benz E350 and settling herself inside, she begins to focus herself, bringing forth _Heda_ and leaving Lexa behind. Just as she starts to pull out, Clarke walks in front of her car, heading to her white Mustang Shelby GT500. Lexa gives her a quick smile, before driving off to work, Clarke leaving soon after in the opposite direction.

* * *

Cage Wallace struts towards the boss' office with a sneer on his face. As he passes his cubicle neighbor, he tells him, "anybody calls, take a message for me and tell them I'm in a meeting with the boss." His coworker frowns and walks past him. As Cage spots another coworker he is somewhat friendly with, he tells him, "That's right, I got a call from the president, top secret assignment. Steve, you know how it is. Actually, knowing you, you probably don't." His sneer widens as he makes his way to the receptionist. He pauses for moment. "Sweetheart, how bout you grab me a coffee? I like it with extra of sugar," Cage says, as he winks at her.

Just as he's about to press the elevator button, the receptionist, Lorelei, stops him with a sharp, "Where do you think you're going?"

"The boss wants to see me," Cage says, allowing a moment of hesitation to creep in.

Lorelei just stares at him. "Well, he sees you." She tells him, pointing to a camera just above the elevator door. "Look kid, I know he's your father, but there are people who have been working here for 30 years and have never seen the inside of that elevator. Here" She hands him an envelope with a photo in it.

"This is my assignment?" Cage asks, thoroughly confused.

"Yeah. Now get the hell out of here." Lorelei tells him with a roll of her eyes.

Cage turns, giving the camera thumbs up, before he leaves.

* * *

Lexa looks into the oven at the meat, trying to figure out if it's done or not. The timer goes off, so, with a shrug, she takes it out and covers it in tin foil. She looks in the bottom oven to make sure the roasting potatoes and vegetables aren't burning, then heads to the center island to start chopping veggies for the salad. Just as she finishes dicing a tomato, lights shine into the kitchen. Instantly on alert, she glances out the window warily trying to see through the darkness and the rain, casually spinning the knife in her hand. When she sees that it's Clarke's car, she relaxes, but continues to play with the knife absent-mindedly.

Clarke backs into the garage, struggling to see through the rain. She presses the remote control in her car to close the garage door, but catches a flash of red in the rearview mirror. She notices a splotch of blood on her neck, and quickly wipes it off. Grabbing a bag and a large rectangular box from the trunk, she dashes through the rain to the back door. She unlocks the door and walks inside, tossing her keys in the bowl by the door.

"Hey babe," Clarke says, spotting Lexa in the kitchen.

"Just in time, my love," Lexa says as she scrapes a diced carrot onto the top of the salad. "Did you stop for a cucumber?"

"Yep, here ya go," Clarke says, setting it on the cutting board. She pauses to kiss Lexa on the cheek, before grabbing a large knife and bringing the box into the living room.

"How was work? What's in the box?" Lexa asks with a small smile, as she begins to slice the cucumber.

"Work was fine, I sold a few paintings from the gallery. And I finished the new painting for the living room."

Lexa frowns. "You did a new painting for the living room?"

Clarke finishes cutting through the tape and lifts the painting out of the box to show it to Lexa. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

Lexa looks at the painting with a confused set to her eyebrows, simply stating, "Do you not like the old one? Why do we need a new one?"

Clarke grabs Lexa's hand and leads her into the living room, stopping her in the middle of the room before walking over to the fireplace and holding up the painting. "This painting has hung here for the past five years, I wanted something new. Besides, aren't you sick of the forest painting?"

Lexa looks down and softly mumbles "six." She looks back up at Clarke, who continues looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Lexa gazes at the new painting, a beautiful depiction of space, before saying, "it is pleasing to the eye."

Clarke grins, and proceeds to tell Lexa, "I had to fight this tiny little man in the paint store over the color blue that I needed. He had it in his hands first, but… well, you know how I am. I won." She smiles proudly at Lexa.

"Of course you did," Lexa says knowingly, before turning to walk back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

Clarke raises her voice so Lexa can hear her from the living room. "The painting clashes with the green in the couch, but I have my eye on a new one that will match perfectly, and then all we have to do is get a new rug. I'm thinking white?"

Lexa walks back into the entryway for the living room. "We could just keep the old painting," she says. "Then we don't have to change anything else."

Clarke looks away, a frown on her face. "We talked about this, remember?"

Lexa walks back into the living room. Looking at Clarke, she calmly says, "I remember you saying you _might_ redecorate a _little._ I wasn't aware that we would have to change all our furniture."

Clarke sighs and looks at Lexa. "If you don't care for it, we don't have to hang it up."

Lexa immediately says, "I do care, Clarke. I find it beautiful like all your other paintings, but I'm making this choice with my head. Why would we change our entire living room to suit a painting, when everything already matches another of your paintings that I find just as beautiful?"

Clarke glances over at Lexa. "Don't worry, I will do all the work, you won't have to worry about a thing."

Lexa sighs out an "Ok" before walking back into the kitchen.

* * *

After dinner, Clarke begins to wash the dishes. Lexa dries, but as she's looking out the window, she notices the lawn mower sitting out in the rain. She sighs, before setting the towel down on the counter. Clarke looks at Lexa for an explanation, but Lexa just nods in the direction of the window.

Looking outside, Clarke sees the mower in the middle of the lawn. "Ok," Clarke says. "Go ahead, I'm almost done here anyways."

Lexa grabs Clarke's bright yellow rain jacket on the way out the door, zipping it up all the way and putting the hood over her head. She heads out onto the lawn and begins pushing the mower towards the garage, sliding a bit on the wet grass. As she pushes the mower onto the driveway, she pauses to pick up a basketball in one hand. As she continues towards the garage, she casually throws the basketball over her shoulder with one hand, 30 yards into the neighbor's hoop.

"Kids need to learn to look after their belongings," she mutters.

* * *

After Clarke finishes drying the last of the pots and pans, she grabs a hammer and heads into the living room to properly hang her painting. She drags a chair over so she can reach, but she is still a few inches short of the spot she wants to put the nail in. Seeing that Lexa is still outside, she shifts her weight to balance the chair on one leg, allowing her to reach the desired location. Over the hammering, she doesn't hear Lexa walk back into the house, until she speaks.

"Look at this, a 50% off coupon for Bath and Body Works came in the mail today. Tomorrow I can go buy some more candles," Lexa tells Clarke gleefully.

Just as Lexa looks up from the mail, Clarke manages to get all four of the chair legs on the floor. "That's great honey, I know how much you love your candles."

Lexa gives Clarke a small smile before heading upstairs to shower and get ready for bed.

* * *

 **AN:** I'm trying to put in some canon stuff and stuff from the fandom. I hope that it's recognizable here, and I'm also hoping that my joke at the end helped keep it from being too angsty. We get enough of that from the show as it is.


	6. Contents Under Pressure

"Hello again, Mrs. Woods," Nyko greets the blonde with a smile. "You're here alone this time, though."

"You can call me Clarke, Dr. Nyko." Clarke responds. "If you're hearing about my sex life, I think you can refer to me by my first name." Clarke says with a tentative, teasing smile.

"Of course, Clarke it is then. So tell me, what brings you here today?"

Clarke sighs. "I'm not sure really… I love Lexa; I love her so much. I want her to be happy, I want to be with her, but there are times…" As Clarke finishes speaking, she scrunches up her nose and clenches her fists in anger.

"Would you care to elaborate, Clarke?" Nyko asks her.

"Ok umm… for example, last week I got home from work late and I was exhausted. I had spent all day…" at this Clarke hesitates, because she distinctly remembers being exhausted from carrying the body of a man she killed 5 miles into the woods to bury. "Ummm… I was carrying paintings around the art gallery I work in. I got home late and all I wanted was to get into bed and go to sleep," 'after washing the blood and dirt out from under my fingernails,' she thinks but doesn't verbalize. "Lexa was reading in bed, some magazine about kitchen knives," Clarke swears with the amount of knives Lexa buys for their kitchen they could single-handedly fend off a horde of zombies, "and so I lay down and turn off the light. Now, it's been a long day and all I wanted to do was sleep, and she could read somewhere else, so I politely said to her 'babe, would you mind turning off the light or using the office? I had a long day at work today and I really need sleep.'" Clarke's face begins to turn red in anger as she remembers what comes next.

Dr. Nyko interrupts her briefly, in an effort to calm her. "That was great that you verbalized your feelings and expressed yourself in a calm way. Good job, Clarke."

Clarke gives flashes him a quick smile, before she resumes. "Well you know what she said? 'I won't be much longer.'…I won't be much longer?!" Clarke's voice is rising now, she's nearly yelling. "She read for 30 more minutes! About fucking KNIVES! When she comes home from work late and exhausted, I don't keep her awake! I let her get her rest, because I know she's working just as hard as I am!" Clarke knows that Lexa's work is important and, while draining, it affects her in a different way. Clarke knows that Lexa is in charge of running her law firm and fighting her own cases, but does she jump from planes into remote locations to assassinate cartel leaders and then make it home for dinner at 7? Certainly not.

* * *

Dr. Nyko regards Lexa with wary eyes as she gazes impassively back at him. Her stoicism and clearly contained power set him on edge. Yet after his last meeting with an angry Clarke, he still isn't sure which one he would rather see. 'Probably neither.' He thinks. These two women and their relationship are baffling. After a few more minutes of silence, he decides to prompt the brunette into speaking. "So, Mrs. Woods. Would you like to tell me what brings you in here?"

Lexa takes looks at Nyko for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she says, "There's this… space… between us, and it just keeps getting bigger the more we don't say to each other. Is there a term for this?"

"Marriage." Nyko tells her, with a small chuckle.

Lexa frowns and sighs, looking down at her left hand and twisting the gold ring on her fourth finger. "I know I hurt her, when I choose my work over her. But I rule the… firm."

"Well, if this is something you really want to make work, maybe you could delegate some tasks so you have more time to devote to Clarke?" Nyko asks her gently.

"I can't delegate my work. _Ai laik Heda_." At Nyko's confused frown, Lexa quickly corrects herself. "I'm the commander… I am the top lawyer in the firm, and I am in charge of everyone in it. All the different…" Lexa pauses. She wants to say clans, but thinks of an alternative. "…Departments work under me. I am in charge of making sure that the 12 departments, each of which focuses on a different type of… law… work together and remain together." Lexa allows herself a small smirk. Sure, each clan specializes in breaking the law in a different way. The Azgeda shoot ice bullets from their guns, making them untraceable. The Trikru specialize in guerilla warfare in forests. For a hundred years, the clans had battled amongst each other, until she brought them together. Now, they work together, taking hits as per their specialty. Nyko interrupts her inner musings.

"I'm not much of a business man, but don't you have department heads? Maybe they can assist you and lessen your burden?"

Lexa's eyebrows wrinkle in consternation. "They are… combative. I am the only one who can keep them from squabbling amongst themselves. If I do not keep them in line, all the people underneath them will suffer…" Lexa pauses once again. How does she explain that if she can't keep the 12 clans working together, they will stop taking money to kill other people and focus on killing each other? If that were to happen, they would soon be eliminated by their rivals: the Skaikru and the Mountain Men. Lexa explains, "If I don't keep control, the departments will break off into their own firms to focus on their own specialties. If that were to happen, they would most likely…go bankrupt. Part of what makes my company so strong is our diversity. We work together, allowing us to assist each other when needed and stay strong against other firms."

"Well, Mrs. Woods, all I can advise is that you carefully consider you priorities and adjust your actions accordingly," Nyko instructs.

Lexa looks up at him, the stoic look back on her face. "The duty to my work and my people comes first."

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry there was no Clexa interactions in this chapter, but get excited because next chapter is going to have some action!


	7. Surviving

The following Friday, Lexa returns home to find Clarke lounging on the couch in the living room with a drink in her hand. Deciding to mix one of her own, Lexa shakes up a martini for herself before slipping out of her heels and sitting on the couch next to Clarke.

"How was your day?" Lexa asks Clarke.

"It was fine. What about you?" Clarke asks in return, tucking her legs under herself and turning to face Lexa.

Lexa turns her body so her side is leaning against the back of the couch, and she is facing Clarke as well. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is running smoothly." Just as Lexa finishes speaking, she hears her phone buzz in her pocket. Remembering her conversation with Nyko, she deliberates for a second before taking it out. However, she chooses to silence it before returning her gaze to Clarke.

"You can get that." Clarke tells her, looking down at the drink in her lap.

"It can wait. It's a Friday night, I just got home, and I'm talking with you." Lexa says, reaching out with her hand to rest on top of one of Clarke's. She gently squeezes, prompting Clarke to meet her gaze. Lexa is met with eyes as blue as the sky, perhaps made more so by the tinge of sadness she discovers in them. Lexa feels a pang of her own sadness at seeing her wife's pain. "I know you think my work schedule is harsh, but it's how my company has survived all these years."

Clarke looks away from Lexa's piercing gaze. "Maybe life should be about more than just surviving. Don't we deserve better than that?"

There's a pregnant pause. Staring at Clarke's lips, Lexa whispers, "maybe we do." She brings her hand up to cup the back of Clarke's neck, pulling Clarke to her before kissing her softly. Surprised at the sudden contact, Clarke stiffens, but soon leans into the kiss, pressing her lips back against Lexa's and bringing her free hand to rest gently on Lexa's back. Lexa pushes back against Clarke, kissing her with a tenderness and care she hasn't felt in a while. Clarke gently takes Lexa's lower lip between her own in a soft, gentle kiss, before slowly releasing it. Lexa tilts her head to change the angle of the kiss, gently brushing Clarke's nose with her own. Just as Lexa is leaning in again, the buzzing of her phone causes Clarke to pull back. Upon feeling Clarke's hesitance, Lexa immediately backs off.

Unable to bear Lexa looking at her with the hint of hurt on her normally stoic face, Clarke quickly turns her head away, telling Lexa quietly, "Just pick it up. It's obvious they need you. They wouldn't call twice so quickly if it wasn't important."

Regretfully, Lexa sighs and gets up from the couch, heading into the office to take the phone call and closing the door after herself.

As she hears the click of the door closing, Clarke finishes the rest of her drink in one sip. Looking over at the office and through the glass door, she sees Lexa rifling through some papers and talking forcefully on the phone. She watches her for a minute more, letting a gentle smile form on her face at how hot Lexa looks when she gets in boss mode. As Lexa hangs up the phone, Clarke quickly looks away, not wanting to get caught staring.

Clarke stands up and heads into the kitchen to wash her glass. She's standing at the sink when suddenly, she feels a pair of arms wrapping around her from behind. As no one can usually sneak up on her, not even the most advanced agents, she jumps slightly, only to have the familiar pair of arms tighten gently around her waist.

"I'm sorry for sneaking up on you, my love, but I have to go downtown. One of our clients is in jail for driving under the influence, and I need to bail him out. I promise I will return to you as soon as I am able." Lexa places a soft kiss on Clarke's cheek before resting her chin on Clarke's left shoulder.

After Clarke has gotten over the fact that she was so distracted that someone – even worse, someone with no training - was able to sneak up on her, she finally processes Lexa's words and stiffens in Lexa's arms. "We are supposed to be going to my mother's tonight for dinner."

"I know, and I promise I will be there," Lexa says in a steady, calm tone, "but this is one of our highest paying clients, so I must deal with it personally."

Clarke turns in Lexa's arms, placing her hands on Lexa's shoulders to fix her with a stare. "You have one hour, and then I expect you to be at my mother's. You take your car downtown, and I will get Octavia to come pick me up on her way so that we can ride home together."

Lexa returns Clarke's stare with a small smirk. "Don't worry, you married the best. It won't take me long at all. I will be in and out." Lexa leans in to place a quick peck on Clarke's lips, before heading upstairs to change.

Clarke watches her leave, letting out a sigh before going to find her phone to text Octavia.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry it took so long, I was traveling. On top of that, finals are coming up, so it may take me a couple more days to get another chapter done. I know it's short, but I wanted to give you something to tide you over.

For those wondering, John is mostly going to be Clarke, and Jane is mostly going to be Jane. However, they will switch at times to follow some canon ideas or because the other character's actions better fits them.


	8. Secrets: Lexa

**AN:** Hope you enjoy! I guess I should throw in a warning for some BDSM elements, torture, and... a penis... *gasp* but it's not too graphic.

* * *

Lexa tightens the cinch of her black trench coat before locking her car and walking into to elevator. It stops for a moment, giving Lexa a view of the ornate, lavish lobby, and a few people get on before it continues its journey up. The last of the other passengers get out on the 10th floor, and as she waits for the elevator to travel the remaining 20 floors to the penthouse, Lexa decides to take out a mirror from her purse to double check her makeup one last time. Her eyes are heavily lined with black eyeliner and her lashes have copious amounts of mascara, making her green eyes pop. 'Well, if I can't wear my war paint, this will do,' she thinks to herself. The rest of her face is natural, as she prefers, except for the bright red lipstick she wears. Remembering the last time she wore red lipstick, an anniversary dinner with Clarke, she quickly slides her wedding ring off, tucking it safely into her bra.

As the elevator stops, she puts away her mirror and allows the haughty, stoic look of _Heda_ to form on her face. The doors open, and she is greeted by a burly man.

"This way." He tells her, heading into the penthouse suite without a second glance towards her.

Lexa follows closely behind the man. She is led past two more men ('poor guards' she thinks) who are watching TV, before the man stops at the closed bedroom door.

As he searches her bag, the man tells her with a stern look, "You have one hour. Any longer and I'm coming in after you. Boss has an important meeting that he can't miss."

Lexa raises her eyebrow cockily and smirks. Remembering Clarke's threat from earlier that night, she says, "Don't worry, I only need 20 minutes." She steps confidently past him into the room before turning to give the man one last smirk and locking the door.

She steps farther into the bedroom, only to find it empty. For the sake of efficiency, she grabs a chair and sets it in the middle of the room and takes the handcuffs out of her purse to set them within easy reach. Hearing the sound of the toilet flushing, she turns toward the bathroom door. She does not, however, hear the sound of the faucet running before a man steps out. 'Gross, he didn't watch his hands,' she shudders internally. 'And people wonder why I prefer women.'

The man, a muscled, cruel looking brunette with closely shaved hair, is completely nude as he steps from the bathroom.

Lexa manages to hide her disgust behind a stoic façade. 'For his sake, I hope he's a grower…' she thinks to herself, as she looks him up and down. 'Not that it will matter for much longer anyways.' The man cuts off her internal thoughts, as he walks towards her, taking a seat at the chair she had placed in the middle of the room.

The man gives her an expectant look, one she returns by undoing the buckles of her coat and dropping it to the floor. The man gives her a leering grin as he gazes upon her half naked form from her black high heeled boots up to her black lace underwear, toned stomach, cleavage, red lips, and wavy brown hair. He pauses when he notices the tattoo on her right bicep, wrinkling his eyebrows in vague recognition.

Knowing she needs to distract him, Lexa stalks over to him, purposefully giving her hips an extra sway as she grabs the handcuffs. She swats away a hand reaching for her ass before wrenching both of the man's arms behind the chair, quickly cuffing them tightly to the chair. He groans with arousal at her display of dominance.

"So you like it a little rough, eh bad boy?" Lexa whispers huskily into his ear from behind. Quickly, she bites his ear lobe hard enough to draw blood. As he gasps in pain, she quickly shoves one of his haphazardly thrown socks into his mouth. Glancing at the clock, she sees she only has 10 minutes left before she needs to leave.

"I'm running short on time, so I have to cut down on your suffering, luckily for you." Lexa tells the man with a sinister grin as she walks around to face him. The man only gazes at her in clear anticipation.

Looking around the room, Lexa spies a lamp on a nearby table that she grabs after wrenching the cord from the wall. She pulls off the lampshade before stalking towards the man, swinging the lamp casually as if it were a sword. The man is looking at her with confusion, which quickly turns into a look of pain as she winds up and drives the base of the lamp into his unprotected stomach. A long groan of pain slips past his gag as the wind is knocked from his lungs. Tossing the lamp onto the bed so as to limit the noise she makes, Lexa grabs a butter knife from the room service tray, casually spinning it in her hand as she circles her prey.

"You know what happens to bad boys like you?" Lexa questions the man as she stops to bend down in front of him to stare deeply into his eyes. "They get punished." She answers her own question and simultaneously plunges the knife deep into the man's thigh, avoiding the femoral artery so he won't bleed out before she's finished with him. The man howls in pain, barely muffled by the gag.

Knowing that the guards will not let another noise like that go unanswered, Lexa stands up and grabs a napkin from the room service tray to clean the blood off her hand. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror, her eyes cold and vibrantly green, the eyes of a predator. Her eyes flick back to the man as he lets out a grunt, trying to free himself. Deciding to end this, Lexa bends down behind the man once again to whisper in his ear, "Have you been kidnapping my people and selling their body parts on the black market, Mr. Emerson?" His struggling stops, which allows her to grab his chin with one hand and the top of his head with the other. " _Jus drein, jus daun_ ," she says coldly as she twists her arms hard in opposite directions, releasing a loud crack as his neck breaks. Checking his pulse as his body slumps forward and finding none, she walks past him to pick up her coat and cover herself. She grabs her purse and wipes her prints off the door handle, handcuffs, lamp, and the knife still stick in Emerson's thigh before walking out onto the balcony.

Lexa quickly swings one leg the other over the railing, turning herself and dropping to hang by her fingertips. She takes a deep breath before she lets go, falling only a few yards before she grabs the railing of the balcony directly below. She goes to swing herself up as a strong arm grabs her own to hold her steady.

"I thought you would drag that out a little more." Anya calmly states with a raised eyebrow as she helps Lexa the rest of the way onto the balcony.

"Would have loved to, but I've got dinner with Clarke's mother in…" Lexa pauses as she walks into the hotel room and looks around for a clock. "…20 minutes. Plus, Emerson's not the real man in charge. Dante Wallace and the rest of the mountain men will get what's coming to them soon enough."

"Of course they will. _Jus drein, jus daun_. C'mon _Commander_ , let's get out of here, wouldn't want you to be late for dinner now would we, or _wifey_ is gonna get angry." Anya says playfully with a laugh as she heads out the door.

" _Shof op, Onya_ ," Lexa grumbles as she follows Anya out of the room and into the elevator.

"By the way, since I was kind enough to bring you some spare clothes so you don't have to show up to your mother-in-law's house in your underwear," Anya says with a smirk as she looks pointedly at Lexa's coat, "I'm inviting myself to dinner. It's been a while since I've had a home cooked meal."

Lexa scowls at Anya. "Have it your way, but remember Clarke's friend that you met at my wedding, the one who wouldn't leave you alone? Well, Raven is practically a second daughter to Abby, so I'm sure she'll be there." Lexa finishes with a smug smile on her face as the two step out of the elevator and into the parking garage.

"Ugh," Anya groans. "Well, I'm starving, so I guess it's a price I'll have to pay.

"Follow me there?" Lexa asks Anya innocently as the two reach their cars.

"And have you drive fast and make a game of trying to lose me on the way there? I think not. Just give me the address." Lexa grumbles, disappointed, as Anya hands her the phone to type in the address. "C'mon Lex, I know you better than that. Hell, I taught you everything you know."

"Not everything," Lexa says suggestively as Anya turns to open her trunk. "It seems to me that I have a wife and you do not. I wonder what that says about your skills in the bedroom? I could give you a few tips if you..." Lexa is cut off as Anya throws a pair of black pants and a grey sweater at her face.

"You couldn't even look at a girl without blushing when I first met you. Besides, you aren't getting any either." As Lexa's countenance quickly drops, Anya wraps an arm around her shoulder. "How's it going between you two anyways? If you need a divorce, I can help you out. I am a 'lawyer' after all." Anya says, complete with air quotes.

"I don't want a divorce… I still love Clarke, but…" Lexa sighs. "I don't know what to do anymore to fix it, to fix us."

"You'll figure it out, you always do. If you can take down a small country with only a sword, you can fix your marriage. You're Lexa and Clarke. Now hurry up and change so I don't have to sit outside Abby's house waiting for you."

Lexa snorts and shoves Anya's arm off her. "Even with a head start, I'll still beat you there. You drive like a grandma."

"Bitch," Anya growls at Lexa. "Race you there, and then we can see who the grandma is."

"You're on," Lexa says with a playful grin, as she hurriedly pulls on her clothes while watching Anya run to her car and speed out of the garage. As Lexa pulls her sweater on over her head, she hears sirens wailing. By the time she is pulling out of the garage, several police cars with their lights flashing fly past her, screeching to a stop in front of the hotel. As she drives away, she lets a satisfied smirk form on her face, accelerating quickly through her gears so she can catch up to Anya.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry no Clexa, but they will reunite soon and I hope Lexa and Anya being immature bros made up for it: D The next chapter will focus on Clarke and will be coming as soon as I can do it! Yeah I needed some revenge, so Lexa killed him... not sorry


	9. Secrets: Clarke

Clarke sits on the couch in the living room, waiting for Octavia to arrive, as she scrolls through her phone checking her notifications. Seeing that she only has 30 minutes until she needs to be at her mother's house, she taps on the phone app to call Octavia, when suddenly she hears a bang from the front door.

"We're here, bitch!" Octavia yells as she struts through the door, closely followed by Raven.

"Where is Lincoln? And your kids?" Clarke asks her, looking around in confusion.

"They're on the way to your mother's house right now. When I saw your text, I had Raven come pick me up so we could have some girl time together." Octavia tells Clarke, just as Raven, catching sight of the new painting, shoves past both of them to get a better view.

"Wow Clarke, that's beautiful! You know I love the sky, can you do one for me too?" Raven lets her eyes sweep around the room. "But I think it clashes with the couch, you're probably gonna need a new one, or at least a slip cover to go over it."

Clarke throws up her hands in frustration. "Thank you! At least someone understands."

At this point, Octavia decides to jump in. "Well if you aren't going to need the other painting anymore, can I have it? Lincoln and I both loved your forest painting, and we would be more than happy to buy it from you. It would go great in our bedroom!"

"Let me talk to Lexa first to make sure we aren't going to hang it anywhere else, but I don't see why not. And don't be silly, Octavia, you're one of my best friends, I'm not going to make you buy it from me!"

"Awww, thanks Clarke!" Octavia gives Clarke a hug, which is soon cut short as Raven grabs both of their arms and starts marching them out of the house.

"Well this has been touching, but it's time to go. If we leave now, we'll still be able to get in a drink and a round of shots."

Clarke stops abruptly as they pass through the front door. "Drinks? We're going to my mother's house!"

Octavia grabs the keys from Clarke's purse to lock the door as Raven once again grabs Clarke's arm and continues to pull her toward the car.

"That we are Clarkey. It's steak night, and there is no way I'm missing out on Dr. G's cooking. First, however, we will be stopping at a bar for a quick drink and some catching up. When was the last time we all went out for a drink together, just us?" Raven opens the passenger door for Clarke then proceeds to shove her inside.

Octavia hops in the back and leans up in between the two seats to chime in. "Yeah, Clarke, c'mon, it will be just like old times!"

"Fine," Clarke groans. "But no shots, and only one drink! Raven has to drive, and we need to show up on time to dinner and not completely wasted."

Octavia sits back into her seat and pouts. "Aww c'mon Clarke, you're no fun."

"Someone needs to be responsible here. Clearly, motherhood has not had any effect on you at all." Clarke teases, as she turns around to look at Octavia.

Raven snorts. "Pot calling the kettle black. As soon as you wifed up and O got knocked up, all the fun went straight out the window. I guess I, Raven Reyes, shall just have to be the one to carry on our great legacy." At this, Raven looks dramatically out the window.

At this, both Octavia and Clarke flick Raven in the head before dissolving into giggles at her dramatics.

"Hey! That's no way to treat the driver, I could get us in an accident!"

Octavia starts laughing. "Puh-lease, Reyes, I've seen you drive down a mountain swerving around trees as we got shot at. I think you can handle some minor pain."

Raven grumbles, turning the radio on to a classic rock station to avoid more teasing from her friends. As she stops at a stoplight, she looks over at the car next to her, admiring the restored classic. As her eyes travel along the body of the car, she pauses at the open window to check out the driver.

Raven looks over at the profile of the man before tauntingly asking, "You up for a race, big boy? I bet you can't handle me."

The bald man turns to face her, frowning and grunting, "Do I know you? Your voice sounds familiar." Raven catches sight of his face tattoo and freezes. Suddenly, his eyes widen in clear recognition. His face quickly morphs into one of anger.

Raven screams, "Fuck!" before she presses hard on the accelerator, swerving to avoid the oncoming cars as she runs the red light.

"What the fuck Raven?" Clarke turns to look at her in anger.

"Remember that job we had a few months ago? We laid a trap and took out like 300 Trikru with a bomb?"

"Yeah, so what?" Octavia angrily huffs from the back seat.

"Well… I think I just saw a Trikru in that car who wants revenge…"

"What? How do you know they were Trikru? How would they even _recognize_ you?" Clarke questions her, still skeptical.

At that moment, the back windshield shattered, and bullets began to bang into the back of the car. The three girls hunkered down as far as they could, before starting to search for weapons. Clarke opened up the passenger dashboard to pull out a 9mm, and Octavia began rifling through the center console. Raven swerved onto a backstreet and began trying to lose the car that was following them as she headed away from the residential areas into the now deserted warehouse district.

Raven looks guiltily at Clarke. "I recognized the face tattoo. And… After that assignment, I may or may not have..." Raven begins to mumble her last words.

"Raven!" Clarke yells at her. "What did you do?"

"It's not all my fault! Octavia shot down one of their spy drones as we were hiking back…"

Octavia looks up from her search to loudly declare, "This is all you! I did nothing except take out the drone!"

"Raven…" Clarke growls and gives her a stern look.

"I may or may not have… Smashed the camera and then taunted them for their idiocy at falling into our trap. He must have recognized my voice." Raven looks over at Clarke apologetically.

Suddenly, the car is shoved from behind and begins to spin out of control. Raven manages to steady them, but the car behind them slams into the side of a brick building.

Clarke gives Raven a glare and tells her, "Stay here. I'll handle this." As Clarke exits the car, Raven tosses her a small object.

"In case he doesn't cooperate, just stick this under his front bumper and press the button on the top, you'll have 30 seconds and it will look like the engine malfunctioned, causing him to crash."

Clarke slips the bomb into the pocket of her coat as she cautiously approaches the vehicle with her gun out in front of her. As she gets closer, the man bursts from the car, taking her by surprise and tackling her to the ground. Clarke groans as she hits the pavement hard with the big man on top of her. He raises a piece of glass in one hand above his head, about to drive it into her, when out of nowhere a knife flies into his arm. He grabs at it in pain, giving Clarke the opportunity to flip him and immobilize him. She wrenches the knife from his arm and drops it to the ground, then looks up to see a grinning Octavia heading towards her with a roll of duct tape. Together, they manage to restrain him before hauling him to his feet and throwing him against his car.

"Thanks for the assist, girl." Clarke smiles thankfully at Octavia as she bends down to pick up the knife from the ground.

Octavia smiles back at her. "Don't mention it. I found it in my purse. You're just lucky we didn't have to resort to my other back-up knives."

Giving Octavia a once over in her tight dress and heels, Clarke shudders to think where another knife could be hidden. The man moves ever so slightly, and Clarke refocuses on him, stalking up to him to hold the knife to his throat with her left hand. "What's your name? Why did you try to kill us?"

He only looks at her with clear contempt, until she presses the knife deeper into his neck, drawing blood. When that still doesn't get a reaction out of him, she grabs him roughly by the throat with her right hand and moves the knife downwards to his groin. She applies pressure, grinning wickedly as she whispers; "You don't want to mess with _Wanheda_ , now do you?"

The man's eyes widen in fear before he begins to speak "My name is Quint. She," he nods his head towards the car, "sent us a message that _Wanheda_ killed my brother in that blast a few months ago. I have listened to that taunting message, hundreds of times, trying to find her, so I could find _Wanheda_ before peace is made. I'm one of _Heda_ 's generals, and I know that she has been talking to you, _Wanheda_. If there is an alliance, you will be placed under _Heda's_ protection, and I will not get my vengeance for my brother's death. _Jus drein, jus daun_."

Octavia interrupts, "Clarke, why is he telling us all this?"

Clarke turns her attention back to Quint to glare at him. When he grins smugly, she presses the knife harder into his crotch.

"You can't kill me. If _Heda_ finds me dead at your hands, there will be no peace." Quint tells them, with a sly grin.

Clarke returns the grin maliciously, before taking the butt of the knife and hitting him hard in the forehead. He drops to the ground, and she barely gives him a second look as she says, "Well, I guess _Heda_ won't find you dead at my hands then." Clarke bends over to cut the tape off his hands, before motioning Octavia over. Together, they lift him into the car and close the door. Clarke takes out the bomb and puts it under the front bumper, pressing the button and calmly striding to the car.

As soon as Clarke and Octavia get in the car, Raven begins to drive away. A loud 'boom' follows, and Raven glances into the rearview mirror to gleefully stare at the fiery explosion. Clarke glares at Raven. "You're welcome. And that bomb better look like an accident."

"Don't worry, I'm the best." Raven grins cheekily back at her.

Octavia quickly fills Raven in on what happened.

As Octavia finishes, Clarke groans. "Great, this is exactly what we DON'T need right now. I'm trying to broker a truce with their Commander, and we just had to kill one of her generals. Ever since the clans joined into the coalition under one Commander 4 years ago, they have been killing too many of us. We have been so busy fighting our competition that we can barely take on enough paying hits. We can't fight a war on two fronts anymore, and there's no way in hell I'm going to make a deal with the Mountain Men, so we need peace with the Grounders. And with the trouble at home with Lexa…" Clarke sighs. "I just don't need any more on my plate at the moment."

Octavia pipes up from the back seat, "Well, at least you aren't pregnant!"

Clarke turns to glare back at her.

Raven reaches over to squeeze Clarke's hand. "Hey, it's going to be ok. If anyone can figure this peace thing out, it's _Wanheda_ , whatever that means. I still don't know why they call you that. And as for the personal problems…You're Clarke and Lexa, you guys will work it out."

"Clexa forever!" Octavia yells from the back seat.

"What the fuck is Clexa?" Raven exclaims.

"Clarke plus Lexa equals Clexa. It's their couple name!"

"Octavia, we don't need a couple name!" Clarke groans and puts her face in her hands. As she drags her hands down her face, she opens her eyes and catches the time on the dashboard. "Shit, we're supposed to be there in 10 minutes. Raven, where are we? This isn't the way to my mom's house."

"Sorry princess, but my car has no back windshield and bullet holes in it, we can't exactly park it at your mother's house. It's too far to Arkadia or my house, but the Dropship is close by, and we can pick up an extra vehicle there."

"Let's just call an Uber to meet us at the Dropship. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to need a strong drink to get through the rest of tonight."

Octavia celebrates in the backseat. "Wahoo! Party animal Clarke Griffin is back in action! Well, I guess Clarke Woods. Clarke Griffin-Woods? I told you that you should have hyphenated."

Clarke just shoots Octavia a mock glare before unlocking her phone to get them an Uber and sending a quick text to Lexa, notifying her that they would be late and not to worry.

* * *

 **AN:** Leave a review if you want to say hey or if you want to see anything specific! I have a rough plan for how I want the story to go, but I can always add something in if it fits!


	10. Family Dinner

**AN:** There's no drama at a family dinner, right? There's some fluff and some angst and drunken shenanigans! Trigedasleng translations at the end.

* * *

Lexa steps out of her car and casually leans against it just as Anya screeches to a stop behind her.

"Hey grandma, need me to get your cane from the trunk?" Lexa mocks Anya with a smirk on her face.

"At least I don't look like a hooker." Anya quips back, tapping her index finger to her lips as she saunters past Lexa.

"Shit." Lexa mumbles, turning to look in her side view mirror to see that she is in fact still wearing her bright red lipstick. She quickly begins to rub it off, remembering that she forgot something else too. Reaching into her bra, she fishes out her plain gold wedding ring. She stares at it for a moment, before Anya gives her a shove.

"C'mon kid, I'm starving. Let's go."

Lexa sighs before slipping the ring onto her left hand before following Anya to the front door. She takes a deep breath, and then knocks three times before stepping back to wait.

Abby Griffin answers the door. "Hello Lexa, right on time." She greets Lexa with only a hint of warmth. She furrows her brow in confusion when she spots a tall, dirty blonde standing behind Lexa instead of her daughter. "Is Clarke not with you?"

Lexa swallows before she speaks. "Good evening, Dr. Griffin. Thank you for inviting us to dinner. Something came up at work, so Clarke decided to ride with Octavia. Also, I hope it's ok, but one of my co-workers was dragged into the mess with me, and I invited her to dinner to make up for ruining her Friday night."

Abby looks displeased, but the group is interrupted by a smiling Marcus Kane. "Of course it's ok, the more the merrier!" Marcus pulls Lexa in for a brief hug, which she stiffly returns with a brief pat on Marcus's back, before he turns to Anya with a big smile and an outstretched hand. "I'm Marcus, a friend of Abby's. Welcome, please come in!"

Anya takes his hand with a brief smile that could have been a grimace, before allowing herself to be ushered inside.

"Lincoln is in the living room with the kids, if you girls would like to join him. Would you like anything to drink?" Abby asks the two women formally.

"We're good, thank you Dr. Griffin." Lexa responds in kind.

Anya snorts. "It's been a long day, if you could just point me in the direction of the liquor cabinet, I can take care of myself."

Lexa jabs Anya in her ribs hard before giving her a disapproving look. Abby looks unamused, but Marcus laughs. "A girl who knows what she wants, just follow me and I will get you sorted out."

Anya follows Marcus into the dining room and Abby heads back into the kitchen without a second glance in Lexa's direction. Lexa stands in the hallway, unsure of where to go, until she feels her phone buzz. Pulling it out, she sees a text from Clarke.

 **Clarke** (7:30): Hey babe, Raven had car trouble so we are going to be a little late. Tell the others not to worry, we are getting an Uber and shouldn't be too long!

Lexa sighs before grumbling, "And she tells me to be on time." Deciding that staying as far away from Abby as possible is her best course of action, she turns to head into the living room. She only takes a few steps in before she feels a small form hit her in the back and wrap its arms around her neck. Luckily, her reflexes allow her to react in time to keep her balance. She grabs the hands around her neck to hold them tight before spinning around a few times. Unable to dislodge her attacker, she slowly slumps to the floor, taking care of the precious cargo on her back before laying absolutely still.

"Can't escape…" She grunts out, before lightly tapping her hand on the hardwood floor.

The little body quickly removes its hold before jumping up and down in excitement. "Auntie Lexa, Auntie Lexa! I pinned you! Daddy, did you see me?" The little girl screeches in excitement.

"I sure did kiddo." Lincoln looks up from the baby he is holding to give his daughter a small smile before turning serious. "But what did we say about attacking people when you aren't in the gym?"

"Not to do it." The little girl looks down at her feet bashfully. "I'm sorry Aunt Lexa."

"It's ok, you didn't, hurt me Aurora. But, I know someone who _loves_ to be surprised, and I don't think she would mind being sneak attacked at all. My friend Anya is here, in the dining room, and as long as you don't break anything…" Lexa trails off as the little girl runs gleefully from the room as fast as her little legs will carry her. Lexa glances over at Lincoln as he begins chuckling.

"You shouldn't encourage her, but honestly, my wife is the worst offender. Aurora is only 4 years old, and Octavia already has her in 3 different types of martial arts classes."

Lexa smiles before taking a seat in the chair next to Lincoln. "I'm not surprised in the slightest." Just then, the two hear a loud shriek from the dining room, and the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.

Lincoln begins to laugh at Lexa's horrified face.

"Oh my God, as if Abby doesn't already hate me enough…" Lexa covers her face with her hands.

Lincoln looks over at her with a sympathetic smile. "She doesn't hate you, she just hasn't warmed up to you yet. It took her a while to start liking me too."

Lexa raises an eye brow at him. "It's been six years, Lincoln, I think she's had plenty of time to warm up to me."

Lincoln grimaces. "Well… you could always give her grandchildren! Ever since we had Aurora, she's been nothing but kind to me. She's the best pseudo grandmother to Aurora and Atom I could ask for."

Lexa's eyes widen, and Lincoln chuckles at her expression before passing the baby to her. "Here, hold Atom for me while I go check on everything and discipline my daughter?" Before she can protest, Lincoln is already gone.

Lexa tenses as the baby begins to wriggle in her arms. Awkwardly, Lexa tries to rock it back and forth, but this only appears to make it unhappier as its little face begins to wrinkle up.

Anya walks in to the living room grumbling, before starting to laugh at seeing her former second in such clear discomfort.

Lexa looks up at Anya with terrified, pleading eyes. "Anya," she whines, "help me!"

"Now, where would be the fun in that? Besides, it's good practice if you and Clarke ever decide to have children." Anya takes a sip of her drink and smirks at Lexa.

A loud wail pierces the room as the baby begins to cry, and Lexa becomes more distressed. "Anya, what do I do? It won't stop!" She awkwardly tries to make some cooing noises, which appear to have no affect on the screaming infant.

Anya laughs once again at Lexa. "If only the clan leaders could see you now, the great _Heda_ vanquished by a small, crying child."

"Anya," Lexa growls at her, "this incident will not leave this room."

Anya quickly pulls out her phone and proceeds to take several photos of a panicking Lexa and the crying baby. Lexa stiffens in anger, which only makes Atom cry harder.

Lexa returns her distressed gaze to the clearly unhappy child. She wishes that she could just tell it that _gonas_ do not cry, pat it on the back, and send it on its way as she does with the _Natblidas_ , but knows this is not an option. Suddenly, she gets an idea. As she looks at the tiny human in her arms, she begins to sing softly and a little off key:

" _Yumi na teik,_

 _Won sonraun au?_

Anya looks at Lexa in clear incredulity as Lexa begins. "You're _singing_? You're singing _that_ to a _baby_?" Lexa completely ignores her and continues, however.

 _"Medo ste thonken,_

 _Medo drein au._

 _Oso kik raun._

 _Ogeda, soulou._

 _Ai laik yu gona._

 _Ai na get raun, you._

 _Yumi na teik,_

 _Won sonraun au?_ "

As the baby quiets and begins to settle in her arms, Lexa trails off her singing. She looks up at Anya with a smug smile, before a bang sounds from the front door. Lexa instinctively tucks her arms in tighter to protect the baby, and Anya quickly moves next to Lexa to protect her _Heda_. Their worry was for naught, however, as a familiar voice yells from the front entrance.

"Momma G, your daughters are home!" Octavia yells through the house.

Abby rushes from the kitchen to throw her arms around the three women. "I'm so glad you could all make it, it reminds me of when you were all in high school together, and you would come over every Friday night for dinner."

"And to pregame before we snuck out to go to parties" Raven giggles before she hiccups.

"Raven!" Clarke elbows her hard in the stomach. The sudden movement causes her to lose her balance slightly, but she catches herself on the wall as Raven doubles over in pain.

Anya looks at Lexa with a raised brow before quietly whispering, "And you were worried about _me_ drinking?" Lexa just rolls her eyes at Anya before the two turn back to the shenanigans once more.

Abby is rubbing Raven's back soothingly before she turns to chastise her daughter. "Clarke, that's no way to treat guests."

Abby's scolding is interrupted as Aurora runs into the hallway yelling, "Momma, Momma! I pinned Auntie Lexa today! And then she told me to go sneak up on her friend Ms. Anya, so I did, and I pinned her too!"

Octavia swoops Aurora into her arms to press kisses all over the little girl's face as her daughter giggles. "I'm so proud of you baby!"

Upon hearing this, Abby turns to glare at Lexa. Before she can say anything, Clarke looks at Lexa and Anya in concern. "Oh, hey Anya, how are you? She didn't hurt you guys, did she?" Clarke knows Lexa is tough and Anya is even tougher, but they still are unused to being suddenly attacked, even if it is by a precocious 4 year old.

Anya snorts. "We are fine. I'd be more worried about Lexa and the baby. When it started crying, I thought for sure that she wasn't going to make it."

At the sound of Anya's voice, Raven immediately straightens up. "Anya! It's so good to see you; it's been too long! I don't think I've seen you since the wedding!"

As Raven quickly makes her way over to an annoyed looking Anya, Clarke realizes that Lexa is, in fact, holding baby Atom. Her heart swells at the way her normally stoic wife tenderly cradles the little boy in her arms. Clarke quickly makes her way over to Lexa, only tripping once. "Awww Lex, you guys look so cute together!" Lexa looks down bashfully, causing a piece of hair to fall from behind her ear. Atom reaches his chubby little fist upwards, smiling and giggling as he tries to grab it. "Look at that, he likes you!" Clarke pushes the piece of hair behind Lexa's ear before putting her finger in Atom's fist for him to hold. Looking at Lexa with a sweet smile, Clarke leans in to brush a soft kiss across Lexa's lips.

The sweet moment, however, is ruined as Marcus enters the living room and cheerily exclaims, "Dinner is ready!"

As everyone starts heading into the dining room, Lincoln comes over to take Atom from Lexa. Lexa stands up, taking Clarke's hand to lead her into the dining room. She teasingly whispers in Clarke's ear, "Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Clarke gives her a mock glare before pinching Lexa's ass and moving to her seat.

Startled, Lexa jumps slightly, but quickly regains her composure and moves to sit next to Clarke.

Clarke is sitting at the end of the table across from Octavia, and her mother is sitting at the head of the table to her right. Lexa sits next to her, Anya sits next to Lexa, and Raven sits on Anya's other side at the other end next to Marcus, who is at the head of the table across from Abby. Lincoln sits to Marcus's left, with his two daughters in between him and Octavia. Having already eaten, Aurora sits quietly in her chair playing a game on a handheld, and Atom appears to have fallen asleep in his car seat. Clarke looks around at her closest friends and family and smiles happily. Taking Lexa's hand under the table, she squeezes it before lacing their fingers together. Lexa turns to give her a small smile before Abby brings in the last of the food, and they all dig in.

Abby is the first one to break the silence. "So, Raven, what happened to your car?"

Raven's eyes are currently glued to Anya's jawline, so Octavia decides to throw a roll at her face. It hits her dead on, and Raven looks up in anger and reaches for her own roll. Just as she's about to retaliate, a hand swiftly shoots out to grab her wrist.

Anya gives Raven a stern look. "Behave." She says gruffly. Raven gazes at her with wide, adoring eyes before swiftly dropping the dinner roll. Anya gives her a brief, approving nod of her head before returning to her plate. Abby clears her throat, bringing Raven back to the present.

Raven smoothly lies. "We got a flat tire. I would have changed it myself, but it was dark where we pulled off the road. Plus, I already have way too many grease stained clothes, I don't need any more."

"So then where did you get the alcohol?" Anya asks Raven coolly.

"From my trunk." Raven's voice instantly drops an octave. "I like to be prepared for… anything." Raven ends her sentence with a wink aimed at Anya.

Lexa snorts and tries to contain her laughter at the horrible attempt at flirting.

"So Lexa, what's new with you? I haven't seen you and Clarke in a while." Abby turns her piercing gaze on Lexa.

Lexa returns the gaze calmly. "Nothing new with me. We might redecorate the living room. Work is going well, I just closed a big case."

"Well that's good, maybe now you'll have more time to spend at home."

At the obvious jab, Lexa's grip on her fork tightens until she's starting to bend it, and she clenches her jaw to hold in a retort.

"Mother…" Clarke hisses, giving her mother a glare.

In an attempt to diffuse the obvious tension, Marcus chimes in. "So Lincoln, what is it that you do again?"

"I'm an environmental lawyer. It's a small, independent firm owned by a woman named Indra Forrest, called Ton D.C."

Upon hearing this, Anya begins to choke on her steak and Lexa freezes. Raven begins to thump Anya on the back roughly in an attempt to help.

Anya reaches for her water and quickly drinks the whole glass.

"Are you ok?" Raven gives Anya a concerned look and rubs soothing circles on her back.

"I'm fine. It just went down the wrong pipe. If you don't mind, I'm just going to excuse myself to get some fresh air and another glass of water." Anya stands up abruptly and heads out of the dining room and into the kitchen, where she heads out onto the back deck. She pulls out her phone and dials a number quickly.

It rings a few times, before a gruff voice growls out, "Hello?"

"Indra, it's Anya. Listen, what can you tell me about a Lincoln Wolfe? He works for you."

"He's low level, but he does good work. He doesn't quite have the… ruthless touch shall we say. He's a family man, loyal to the company though. Why do you ask?"

"I'm having dinner with him right now."

"What? How?

"I'm with _Heda_ , he's married to her wife's maid-of-honor."

"He didn't recognize you? Or her?"

"Not that I can tell. I didn't recognize him, and it's not public knowledge that Polis technically owns Ton D.C."

"Well, if you think you or _Heda's_ cover is blown…"

Anya sighs. She doesn't want to kill an innocent man for something he might not even know, especially after meeting his family. She also knows that Lexa would not be pleased, as it would cause her wife pain. "From what I can tell and what you've told me, he's unaware of who we are. Keep a close watch on him though. If he gives any indication that he knows something more…"

"Of course, _Onya_ , I will keep you updated." Indra hangs up without saying goodbye. As Anya hangs up, Lexa steps out onto the back porch.

"Was that Indra?" Lexa asks her. Anya gives her a sharp head nod in confirmation. "What did Indra say?"

"He's low-level, should be harmless. As long as he doesn't recognize us, I don't think he's a threat. But, if you feel it's necessary, we can…" Anya trails off.

Lexa looks to the sky as she contemplates her options. Only the highest-level agents, her council, the clan leaders, and the generals are aware of the exact company that 'owns' all the field stations, and they are the only ones who have been to Polis tower to meet with her. If she has to visit any of the field stations, she wears her war paint to hide her true identity. She makes enough appearances for the people to love and fear their _Heda_ , but keeps enough secrets to protect the integrity of the organization and her identity. Coming to a decision, she returns her gaze to Anya. "Keep an eye on him. Chances are he doesn't recognize us. I will not kill an innocent man if I can help it."

"Of course _Heda_."

* * *

While Anya and Lexa are outside, Abby turns her questioning gaze to her daughter. "So, Clarke, why haven't you been to visit lately?"

"I've just been busy, mother." Clarke scoffs, as if her mother doesn't know how busy she is. She's on the Council, she knows how busy Clarke is trying to broker a peace, defend their people, and take paying hits. "Lexa is busy, too. You know how it is."

"Too bad Bellamy isn't here, tonight. It would have been nice for you two to catch up. You haven't seen him in so long, and you guys used to be such close friends. He's dating someone, a girl named Gina. She's a kindergarten teacher, she has plenty of time to spend with him."

Clarke glares at her mother. "Well I guess me marrying a lawyer was kind of like Dad marrying a doctor, isn't it Mom? Maybe I should have asked Dad if he regretted you not having enough time to spend with him." Clarke abruptly stands up and storms into the kitchen. Spying the bottle of Scotch that Anya had out earlier in the night, she pours herself a glass and drains it. As she looks out the window and sees Lexa talking to Anya, she pours herself another glass and drains it before opening the back door.

"You guys better not be talking about work."

Lexa turns around. "We weren't, I was just asking Anya what she thought of Raven. I was thinking that we could go on a double date with them."

Anya glares daggers into the back of Lexa's head. Clarke misses Anya's look, trying to see if Lexa is lying to her. Finding nothing indicating untruthfulness, Clarke shoots Lexa a soft smile. "I think that's a great idea. But you guys should come back inside before the rest of your dinners gets cold."

"Of course." Lexa returns Clarke's smile, while Anya just huffs. The three women walk back into the kitchen, and Anya and Lexa head into the dining room to retake their seats.

Deciding that she is still too sober to handle her mother's criticism, Clarke pours herself another glass and tosses it back, before taking a deep breath and heading back into the dining room. As she sits down, she catches the tail end of a conversation.

"Well, Marcus, after Finn cheated on me, I just couldn't trust him anymore. He's all the family I have left, so we remain close friends, but that's all we are. _Friends_. Unfortunately, that was the last relationship I was in, and I'm painfully _single_ , just waiting for the right man or _woman_ to come along." Raven ends her tirade with a not so subtle seductive glance aimed at Anya. Anya closes her eyes, trying to retain her control.

Before she can even formulate a follow up, Atom begins to cry. Octavia picks him up and begins to shush him. "It's getting late, he's only going to be fussy, we should probably go and get them to bed. Thank you so much, Abby, for having us."

Abby stands up to hug the two parents. "Of course, I'm so glad you came! And remember what I said, anytime you two need a date night, I am more than happy to watch Aurora and Atom for you."

Deciding that the night could only deteriorate further, Clarke decides that now is the best time to make her escape. She stands up, wobbling a bit, before Lexa steadies her. "We should probably go too, we have to… shop for a new couch tomorrow, it's going to be a long day." Clarke goes to hug her mother before gathering her belongings.

"Thank you for dinner tonight Dr. Griffin. It was delightful as always." Lexa shakes Abby's hand while trying and failing to muster up a smile.

Abby returns the handshake with an impassive face. "Of course dear. I hope to see you soon. Take good care of Clarke."

"Of course, Dr. Griffin."

Anya walks up to stand next to Lexa and holds out her hand to Abby. "Thank you so much, for having me as well. Best meal I have had in months." Abby shakes hands with Anya with a small, conspiratorial smile.

"Anytime. I haven't met many of Lexa's friends over the years. Plus, you're good for Raven, you keep her in check." Abby winks at Anya before turning to hug Raven.

Anya mouths a 'sorry' to Lexa as they head out the door. They pass Marcus, sending him small waves goodbye and thank you's, which he happily returns.

For the second time that night, Clarke finds herself in an inebriated state, so she has decided to take off her shoes and run barefoot through the front lawn to Lexa's car. As Anya and Lexa leave the house, they are quickly pushed aside by Raven, who let's out a yell, "Party Animal Griffin!"

Clarke skids to a stop, dropping her shoes in panic thinking she has forgotten something.

"Go say goodbye to Octavia!"

"Right." Clarke mumbles to herself, before running to Octavia's minivan. She attempts to slide across the hood, fails, and ends up sticking to the front of the car.

Octavia gets out of the passenger side to help her, barely able to control her giggles. "Bye Party Animal Griffin, it was nice to see you again. Call me tomorrow if you need my hangover cure."

"Hey, it's Party Animal Woods now. And she wouldn't have had to come back if my mother wouldn't be such a bitch." At this point, Clarke is starting to get worked up. Just as she opens her mouth to start a tirade, Lexa comes up next to them.

"Does that make me Mrs. Party Animal Woods?"

"Lexa!" Clarke shouts and launches herself at her wife. Although Lexa is holding Clarke's shoes in one hand, she still manages to wrap the other around Clarke to keep her steady enough to carry to the car.

"Goodnight, Octavia. Tell Lincoln and the kids we say goodbye as well."

"Good luck taking care of that one, I had enough of it during my college years to last me a lifetime." Octavia says with a chuckle.

As Lexa turns to bring Clarke to the car, Clarke shouts over Lexa's shoulder. "Love you Octavia!" Before she can hear a reply, she finds herself gently placed in the passenger seat of Lexa's car, being buckled in by her wife. As Lexa rounds the car and gets in, Clarke looks at her fondly. "You're so sweet. If my mother saw this side of you, she would love you." Clarke claps her hands over her mouth as if she's just revealed a huge secret.

Lexa looks over at Clarke with an amused smile. "It is fine, Clarke, I know that she is not particularly fond of me."

"I'm sorry." Clarke says dejectedly.

Lexa reaches over for Clarke's hand, intertwining their fingers. "Do not worry, Clarke."

Clarke sighs, before leaning her head against the windshield. Suddenly, she jerks back upright. "What about Raven?"

Lexa smirks. "Raven is more than fine right now. Anya is taking her home."

Clarke looks at Lexa in wide-eyed amazement, speechless.

"I don't think anything is going to happen, but you never know, maybe Raven wore her down." Lexa tells her. "Anya just knew that Raven wouldn't mind, and with you being a little… tipsy, decided that it was best if I took you straight home to bed."

Clarke waggles her eyebrows before attempting a seductive voice. "So, Mrs. Woods, you're taking me straight home to bed?"

Lexa's eyes widen. "No, not like that. Not that I don't want to!" Lexa rushes to add. "But I would never take advantage of you when you are in this state, Clarke."

"I know you wouldn't, Lexa." Clarke reassures her, but can't help pouting. They haven't made love in a while. She sighs, before once again leaning her head against the window, letting herself be lulled to sleep by the movement of the car.

* * *

The next time Clarke opens her eyes, Lexa is laying her on their bed. Clarke sits up, reaching to cup Lexa's face and hold her gaze. "Let's take a vacation."

"What?" Lexa looks completely shocked at the sudden pronouncement.

"Let's take a vacation, just you and me. I miss you, Lexa. You're here but you're not _here_. I know we're both busy, but let's just get away. Everything will be waiting when we get back."

"Clarke…" Lexa looks pained. "I cannot. Work is too busy right now. Maybe in a couple weeks…"

"That's not good enough, Lexa. We're falling apart. Clexa is breaking."

Lexa switches on the bedside lamp and stares at Clarke with her brows knitted in confusion. "What is Clexa?"

"Clexa is us! We are Clexa, Clarke and Lexa!" Clarke shouts in frustration.

"Why is your name first? I'm confused."

Clarke pushes Lexa away and begins to yell at her. "Lexa! That's not important! You're always working! I'm busy too, but at least I make an effort! Even tonight, when you were talking to Anya on the porch, I know you were talking about work!" Clarke now has tears running down her face.

Lexa takes a step towards Clarke, trying to comfort her, but Clarke holds up her hand, stopping her.

"Just, please… I can't deal with this right now." Clarke begs her.

Lexa backs up, holding in her own tears, as she grabs a T-shirt and leaves their bedroom. Before she closes the door, she turns around to look at her wife. "I love you, Clarke."

"I know you do." Clarke sighs and wipes the tears from her face. Lexa looks like her heart is breaking, and she turns to go, but Clarke whispers, "I love you too, Lexa."

Lexa stops for a second, whispering, "I know." She takes a shuddering breath and closes the door, headed for the couch. As she lays down, she listens to Clarke cry herself to sleep.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry for that ending, but everything will be ok in the end! If it's not ok, it's not the end! But actually that's true here because I promise there will be a happy ending.

 _Gona_ : warrior

 _Natblida_ : Nightblood

Grounder anthem translation:

And will you take,

A life with me?

A body's hollow,

A body bleeds.

We live as one.

We live alone.

I am your soldier.

I will atone.

And will you take,

A life with me?


	11. Space

**AN** : Sorry for the wait guys! Trigedasleng translations at the end.

* * *

Clarke awakens the next day still dressed in her dress from last night with a pounding headache. She groans and rolls over, seeking to silence the noise coming from her cellphone. She quickly silences it, only for it to immediately start ringing again. Deciding the fastest way for her to go back to sleep is to talk to whoever is calling her, she picks it up.

"Hello?" Clarke hoarsely groans into the phone.

"Hey, Clarkey, how ya feelin' this morning?"

Clarke nearly hangs up, but knows that she will only be awoken again. "Raven, what do you want? It's…" Clarke looks at the clock, only to see that it is noon. "Shit."

Raven chuckles. "C'mon Clarke, it's the afternoon. I know you haven't drunk that much in a long time, but the Griffin I know would be out of bed and sweating out the alcohol by now."

"That Griffin was in her early twenties."

"Well, take an Advil and grease your stomach, you've got a job."

"Raven, no. Have someone else take it. It's Saturday."

"No can do, it's a priority from the company. The Council specifically requested _you_. Pack your bags, you're goin' to Texas girl!"

"Fuck my life." Clarke groans, as she hangs up without saying goodbye. She sits up and is instantly hit with a wave of nausea. Deciding not to fight the inevitable, she slides of the bed and stumbles into the bathroom, letting her stomach empty its contents into the toilet. When she's sure that she isn't going to vomit again, she brushes her teeth twice and takes 4 Advil before hopping in the shower.

As soon as she's done with her shower, Clarke wraps a towel around her body and walks into the bedroom to pack. Just as she's about to head into the closet, she spies a plate on the bed with a note written in Lexa's flowy handwriting.

 _Clarke,_

 _I heard you up and brought you breakfast. I hope it helps with your hangover. I will be waiting downstairs to talk when you are ready._

 _Lexa_

Clarke releases a sigh and resists the urge to cry as she thinks over the events of last night. Knowing that wallowing will not change anything, she grabs the two pieces of bacon and wolfs them down, before picking up the toast and heading into the closet. She doesn't know how long she will be there or what the mission will entail, so she decides to over pack. Knowing it will likely be hot in Texas, she grabs a few pair of jean shorts, some casual shirts, some light dresses, sandals, two nice blouses, a business suit, a pair of slutty heels and a pair of work heels, her cowboy boots, several pairs of jeans, a week's worth of underwear, her sunglasses, and an oversized T-shirt to sleep in.

She examines her items one last time before deciding that she should be able to blend in anywhere she goes. She grabs her hairbrush and a bag for her toiletries before shoving everything in a suitcase. As her stomach growls again, she decides that she's not in danger of puking again, and finishes the plate of eggs and cup of coffee that Lexa left for her before going to get dressed. Since she will likely have to head into the office before heading straight to the airport, she settles on wearing business casual attire with a nice pair of black pants and a button down. Ensuring that her wallet is in her purse, she grabs her suitcase and heads downstairs. As she nears the bottom, she sees Lexa sitting at the kitchen table with her hands wrapped around her own cup of coffee and looking dejectedly out the window into the backyard.

As soon as Lexa hears Clarke, she turns her head in her direction. Her eyes widen, and she stands up jerkily, knocking over the chair and jostling the table enough that her cup of coffee spills and crashes the floor. Her eyes fill with tears as she looks desperately at Clarke. "Clarke…" she half-sobs. "Please can…." Lexa can barely get her words out as she chokes back her panicky sobs. "Please, can we talk about this…" Lexa takes a step towards Clarke as a tear rolls down her face. With a trembling lip she begs, "please, please don't leave."

Suddenly realizing how her appearing with a suitcase the morning after their fight must look to Lexa, Clarke instantly feels bad. "It's not what you think. Work called, they need me to go check out a new artist in Texas. My flight leaves soon."

Lexa takes a deep shuddering breath before wiping away her tears. She looks away from Clarke, trying to compose herself.

"We are going to talk about last night, Lexa, but not right now. I need some space; I need time to think. You should take time to think too. Maybe take some days off work and take a trip somewhere. Just get away, evaluate things. We can't go on like this, something has to change."

Lexa returns her pained gaze to Clarke. "If space is what you need, Clarke, I will not deny it to you. I will be here when you are ready." Lexa still looks like her tears could overflow at any moment.

Clarke's gaze softens, and she steps towards Lexa to wrap her arms around her in a brief hug. "When I get back, we will talk, ok?" As she feels her own emotions beginning to get to her, she brushes her lips across Lexa's cheek before pulling back.

As Clarke moves to release her, Lexa cups Clarke's cheek and wipes a lone tear away. She brings their foreheads together and takes one last shuddering breath, inhaling the sweet smell that is Clarke, before stepping back.

"Take care, Clarke." Hesitantly, as if she does not deserve to say her next words, Lexa softly adds, "I love you."

Clarke gives her a sad, half-smile, before softly returning Lexa's sentiment. "I love you too." She turns and walks out the back door to her car, leaving Lexa to stare after her as she drives away.

As Clarke's car disappears, Lexa's phone begins to ring. She gruffly answers it. "This is _Heda_."

Titus's voice cuts through Lexa's emotions. " _Heda_ , there's a situation. Cage Wallace is coming back from Mexico with what we believe to be intel on your real identity. We can't allow the intel to reach the Mountain. Who should I send after him?"

" _Ai laik Heda. Non na throu daun gon ai_."

" _Heda_ …"

"I will be at headquarters in 30 minutes, and it should only take 30 minutes to brief me. Book me the next flight out."

"Of course, _Heda_."

Lexa hangs up without replying. She heads into the kitchen to clean up the mess from her coffee cup, thinking over the events that led to the broken mug. Knowing that if she continues to think about it she will only start crying again, she takes a deep breath and lets the mask of Heda cover her face. Having mastered her emotions and cleaned up the mess, she grabs her pre-packed bag from the top of the closet and heads out the door.

* * *

Half an hour after getting into her car, Clarke pulls up in front of headquarters, a big, modern, space-grey building titled "The Ark." Gathering herself, she strides confidently into the building and takes the elevator to the penultimate floor. When the elevator gets to the fifth floor, a black camera pops out of the front. Clarke stands still gazing directly at the camera as lights scan up and down her body.

"Identify yourself." A robotic voice demands.

"Clarke Griffin."

After another moment, the voice replies. "Access granted, identity confirmed. Welcome Senior Agent Clarke Griffin, Agent-in-Charge of D Squad, Wanheda, Mrs. Woods."

"Thank you Allie." Clarke says as the doors open onto the twelfth floor. As she steps out, she is greeted with the chaotic scene of her friends running around performing various activities. Bellamy is having a heated discussion with Murphy, while Wells tries to mediate. Raven and Monty are fiddling with a device that looks suspiciously like a bomb. Jasper is trying to convince Harper and Monroe to try a cup of what suspiciously smells like moonshine.

"Hey!" Clarke shouts, and all activity comes to a halt. Within the next 10 seconds, every person has scurried to their respective offices or labs. With a satisfied smile, Clarke steps into her corner-office and sinks down into a plush leather chair behind her desk. She types a few keys, and a monitor emerges from inside her desk. As the monitor turns on, Octavia and Raven walk in with coffee in their hands.

"Here you go, _boss_." Octavia says cheekily has she hands Clarke a cup of coffee and takes a seat next to her.

Clarke rolls her eyes. "Thanks, O. Now get out of here, I have to get briefed before my flight."

"The Chancellor wants us here for the briefing since we are leading the support and mission monitoring teams." Raven says as she plops onto Clarke's lap with a smirk.

Clarke shoves Raven off from her and onto the ground. "Get your own chair, you buffoon." Raven grumbles but picks herself up and pulls a chair over next to Clarke.

"Ladies." A deep voice comes from the monitor on Clarke's death. All three straighten up to attention.

"Hello, Chancellor Jaha." The three chorus together.

"First, I want to thank you for coming in on your day off. This mission is of the utmost importance to the company, and we need your expertise." A face pops up on the screen of an angry, violent looking man with a scar on his upper lip. "This is Cage 'Pretty Boy' Wallace." Clarke snorts when she hears the nickname. Thelonius gives her a stern look, and she holds up her hands in defense before he begins again. "Cage was in Mexico picking up sensitive information on the Coalition. We are not sure what form the intel is in, but we need you to ensure that he makes it to the rondevue."

"Why don't we just take the intel to use for ourselves?" Octavia asks.

Thelonius is quick to answer. "We know that the Mountainmen hate the Coalition and will use the intel to strike against them. We don't need to risk injury to our people in obtaining the intel and then putting it into action when the Mountainmen will do it for us."

Clarke thinks over Thelonius' words before replying. "What about the treaty we are trying to make with the Commander? If we warned them and worked with them to take the intel back from Cage, maybe they would finally trust us and we could have peace with them. This is what we have been waiting for, something that we can bring them that will make them trust us!"

"Clarke, you know the Council has talked about the treaty, and we do not think the Commander would honor it. I know you want it to work, but we all agree that we can't risk it."

Clarke angrily interrupts. "You know that this is what's best for our people! We are outnumbered, and our superior weapons will not hold out against the numbers that they have. Please, let me bring this to the Commander."

"Have you had a meeting with her yet? In person? No, you haven't, Clarke. You saved the life of one of her generals, who promised she would bring the Commander a message. We have received a few messages and sent a few back, but nothing substantial. You couldn't even identify who the general was. For all we know, she was just a low-level agent and has been faking this whole thing trying to get information."

"I told you, it was dark and we were covered in mud! I was focused on getting us away to the Mountainmen, not interrogating her!"

"I understand your passion, Clarke, but I am the Chancellor, and I don't care how much you disagree, I am just doing what is best for our people. I am not letting you risk your life and the lives of our people in trying to make a treaty with people who haven't indicated that they want it. Now, are you going to be able to do this mission, or am I going to have to get Bellamy?"

Clarke looks away in anger, but manages to master her emotions. "Yes Chancellor, I will do it."

"Good. Octavia and Raven will go over the specifics with you. Your plane leaves in two hours. It's a private plane, so bring whatever you think you will need. Good luck."

Clarke mumbles a thank you as the monitor once again disappears into her desk. She throws herself back into her chair in anger and drags her hand down her face in frustration.

Octavia puts her hand on Clarke's arm in an attempt to comfort her. "It's going to be ok, Clarke. Maybe this is for the best. I know you want this treaty to work out, and I do too, but the Council could know something that you don't."

"You know that's not it. They just can't get over their intolerances. Just because they are different from us doesn't mean we can't work together. I know that there is a history of violence between us, but it's been on both sides. If we show that we are willing to try to stop the bloodshed, I think they will too. This Commander, _Heda_ , she's different." A hint of admiration enters Clarke's voice. "She's smart. She is able to think logically and put the good of her people over everyone, that's how she united the 12 clans."

This time Raven responds. "Clarke, she's ruthless. There's a reason we call them Grounders. They are true people of the Earth, like animals. They are vicious and deadly. Their motto is ' _jus drein jus daun_.' Do you know what that means? Our language analysts believe it means, 'blood must have blood.' And the Commander is their _leader_. She's the most vicious of them all."

"Newsflash, Raven, we kill people for a living, just like they do. Just because they do it a little differently than us doesn't make us better than them." Clarke sighs. "Let's just get this over with. Hopefully this won't ruin our chances for a treaty."

* * *

Lexa strides confidently into Polis Tower, heading to the elevator on the far right that will take her straight to the top. She gets in the elevator and uses the key that gives her access to the penthouse. As the elevator heads up to the 50th floor, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly as she begins to meditate, further centering herself for the mission. As the doors open, she opens her piercing green eyes and confidently steps out. Although it is a Saturday, there are still plenty of people in the office. Her secretary gives her a brief nod of recognition, before returning to her computer. Lexa heads straight into her office without giving anyone a second glance.

Taking a seat at her desk, she picks up the file sitting there and swivels in her chair to gaze out the window. Lexa enjoys the view for a moment before beginning to flick through the file. She memorizes an ugly, black haired man's face, then snorts as she sees his name. "Pretty Boy" eh? That's ironic. Well Cage, let's see who you are. She continues reading quickly but thoroughly.

Ten minutes later, Titus enters the office. " _Heda_." He greets her.

"I need the weather report for the past week of this valley here." She hands him a map with a bright red circle drawn on it. "The Sankru have an outpost nearby, tell them that I will be by to arm myself and check on them. I want the General and his top three agents waiting for me when I get there. I will consult their knowledge of the area before proceeding."

"As you wish, _Heda_." As Titus leaves, Gustus enters.

Lexa looks up and allows a hint of a smile to enter her face as she catches sight of her favorite guard. " _Heya, Gostos_."

" _Heda_." He bows his head as he greets her.

"What brings you here, Gustus?"

" _Heda, beja_. Allow me to accompany you. It is my duty to protect you, and I cannot do that if you leave me behind."

Lexa's annoyance creeps in to her tone. "I am more than capable of taking care of myself, Gustus." As Gustus receives her words, his face remains impassive. Having known him for so long, however, Lexa is able to read the hurt and worry on his face. "This is a direct threat to the Coalition. I do not trust anyone else to take care of it."

" _Heda_ , you _are_ the Coalition. If you fall, the Coalition will fail. Nia will…"

Lexa holds up her hand, halting Gustus's warning. " _Em pleni, Gostos_. I am the best. Trust that I can and will take care of myself. Now leave me."

"Of course, _Heda_." Gustus bows his head before taking his leave.

Lexa sits back in her chair and sighs, thinking over her upcoming mission. However, only a moment later, she is interrupted once again. As she hears the door open, she growls.

" _Heda_ , I brought you the papers you asked Titus for."

Lexa opens her eyes to see the smiling face of her former First. " _Mochof, Onya_."

Anya tosses the papers at Lexa with a smirk before taking a seat in front of Lexa's desk. "So, I heard about the mission." As Lexa turns to her with a glare, Anya throws up her hands defensively. "I wasn't going to say anything! I didn't spend 10 years making you the second best assassin in the nation to let you sit at a desk. " Anya smirks before relaxing further into the chair.

Lexa lets an affectionate smile form on her face at Anya's words. "Awww, thanks Ahn. But we all know I'm better than Indra." This time, Anya is the one to glare at Lexa. Lexa only chuckles, before standing up to leave. "I have to go, I will see you when I get back. Take care of everything for me?"

"Of course, _Heda_." Anya stands and bows her head in deference to Lexa. As Lexa reaches the door, Anya stops her with a quiet request. "Lex?"

Alarmed at Anya's seriousness, Lexa freezes and turns around to face Anya. "I know now isn't the best time, but did you think about what I told you? Meeting and discussing a treaty with the _Skaikru_ in person?"

"Anya, I have been thinking about it. I know _Wanheda_ saved your life, but she is only one person. She is not in charge; she is not their Chancellor. She isn't even on their Council! If I thought I could trust them and that they genuinely wanted a treaty with terms that would benefit us, I would meet with them. You know that I only want what's best for my people, and if I could stop the Mountainmen's rein of terror by aligning with the _Skaikru_ , I would. But we have barely heard anything from them since it happened, just a few simple messages. No concrete offers, no asking to meet in person. Nothing."

"I know. But she's different, Lex. When I was running from the Mountainmen with her… She didn't have to save me, but she did. She _chose_ to risk her life to help me. At times, she even reminded me of…you. I think she could win over her people."

Lexa sighs. "Ok. I trust you, Ahn. While I'm gone, make contact with her and see what she says about meeting in person."

"Thank you, Lex." Anya steps forward and clasps Lexa's forearm with her hand. " _Leidon, Leksa._ "

Lexa grasps Anya's forearm in return before flashing her a cocky smile. " _Leda, Onya_."

* * *

 **AN:** I promise the action is coming next chapter! Should be exciting. Review or message me if you want to request anything or ask a question or say hey!

 **Trigedasleng**

 _Ai laik Heda. Non throu daun gon ai –_ I am the Commander. No one fights for me.

 _Jus drein jus daun_ – blood must have blood

 _Em pleni_ – enough

 _Leidon_ – Goodbye

 _Leda_ \- Bye


	12. Heda & Wanheda

**AN:** The action is finally here! Hope it was worth the 11 chapter buildup! From here on out, it's mostly going to be action and excitement now that the plot is set up. Message me or review if you have requests, want to talk about the story, or just want to say you liked it!

* * *

After Clarke gets the final details from Raven and Octavia, she goes to the closet in her office to pick out the clothes she will need for the op. Knowing that she will need to protect her fair skin from the sun and sand while blending in somewhat, she grabs a light pair of khaki cargo pants and a long sleeve white top to put in her suitcase. Since her blonde hair is pretty identifiable, she heads into the bathroom and quickly dies it red. Then she heads down to the supply room to pick up her weapons. She takes a few moments to peruse the stock and think over what her best options are with the plan they have developed. Deciding that it's better to be safe than sorry, she grabs two knives, a handgun, and a large, rectangular hard cover suitcase before heading out the door.

As she strides through the empty hallways, she starts to think about her current job. 'We should be using this as an opportunity to make a treaty with the Grounders, not helping the Mountainmen. Ugh sometimes I really just hate the Council…' Her thoughts are interrupted as her phone rings. Looking down to see that it's Raven, she decides to answer it. "What do you want? I'm not even out the door yet."

"Clarke, we just got a message from the Grounders."

"What? Now?"

"They want to set up a meeting, between Wanheda and the Commander." Clarke is immediately filled with hope. "Raven, this is exactly what we have been waiting for!"

"I know, but… It was a coded message, that claimed to be from the second-in-command, but there's no way to know for sure. Monty can't trace the message back to a computer or location. The message gave a time and place and said to send Wanheda. Alone. The Commander will be waiting. For all we know, it could be anyone who sent us this, and we don't even know what the Commander looks like. He might not even come. It's too much of a risk; the Council will never go for this."

"Raven, of course they don't trust us. They have nothing to really gain here! Eventually they will wipe us out, and will be able to focus all their attention on the Mountainmen. But if we offer our help in defeating the Mountaimen in return for safety afterwards, then both of us benefit!"

"I know Clarke, I'm not the one who needs convincing. As long as Jaha, Kane, and your mom are on the Council though, they will never approve it."

"Just, message them back, or whatever. Tell them I'll be there. When I get back from this mission, we can focus on convincing the Council."

Raven sighs. "Alright, Clarke. Good luck. Remember, I'll be your eyes in the sky." Raven teases Clarke in the hopes of relieving some of the stress on her best friend."

"That's sooooo comforting, Rae." Clarke sasses back, and as soon as she hears Raven chuckle, she promptly hangs up the phone and continues out of the building and onto the tarmac to the private plane that is awaiting her.

She checks that her bag from the car was put in the belly of the plane, and then stores the rest of her equipment before ascending the ladder and buckling herself into one of the plush seats for takeoff. As she hears the pilot start up the jets, she closes her eyes and tries to get some rest.

* * *

As Lexa debarks from her plane, she grumbles to herself. With her last minute booking, there was no first class left, and she was forced to sit in economy in the middle seat next to a crying baby and an overweight man who fell asleep on her shoulder. If the flight had been any longer than three hours, she would have killed someone, most likely multiple someones.

After she passes through security, she stops in the nearest restroom, locking the door behind her. She checks to make sure no one is in any of the stalls, before she pulls out the black kohl from her bag and begins to apply her warpaint. Once she is satisfied, she pulls the hood of her black sweatshirt up so that it covers most of her face and heads out of the airport. She waits by the curb until she spots an all black SUV with a "Sankru University" license plate. She strides confidently over and gets in the back seat, setting her bag on the seat next to her.

" _Heda_." The man in the front seat greets her without looking back before pulling away from the curb.

"Calvin." She pulls down her hood and returns his greeting.

"Titus called ahead. My three best agents are waiting at the outpost closest to the point that you selected to make your strike. Currently, they are going over your plan and double checking the intel." Lexa raises a brow at him, which he sees in the rearview mirror, so he quickly adds, "Not that you need it…"

"It is fine, Calvin. I know that I am not infallible. It would be foolish to disregard your expertise and knowledge of the area."

"Thank you, _Heda_."

"How is everything here, then? No problems? Everything running smoothly?" The two continue to talk about the clan, the recent operations, and any recent losses. Once she is satisfied that everything is running smoothly and there is no unrest within the _Sankru_ , Lexa sits back and enjoys the rest of the ride throughout the desert. Knowing that the recent stress in her life cannot be allowed to affect her focus, she pulls her legs up onto the seat and crosses them in front of her before closing her eyes and beginning to meditate.

As Calvin pulls into the compound, it is nearly dark. Unsure how to alert _Heda_ that they have arrived, he hesitates before he turns around in his seat to face her. Before he can open his mouth, her eyes shoot open and lock onto him. The piercing green surrounded by black kohl coupled with the stoic look on her face startle him. She stares at him for a moment, as if she is looking into his soul, before she turns to get out of the car. Calvin is still somewhat terrified but manages to pull himself together and get out of the car. "I'm glad that she's on our side." He mumbles to himself.

"What was that, Calvin?"

"Nothing, Heda. You must be tired, let me show you to your room. Dinner should be waiting for you there."

"Actually, I would prefer to go over the plan with you and your agents so that we can make any adjustments now. We can eat as we talk, I will be making an early start tomorrow."

"Of course _Heda_ , right this way."

* * *

The next morning, Lexa pulls up her horse in the shadow of a tall rock outcropping not too far from a dirt road. She dismounts, ties up her black horse, and lays down some food and water for the animal. She loosens the girth and gives the horse a pat before she takes the saddlebags and a rifle off the horse and begins to set up.

A few hours later, just as the hottest part of the day is about to hit, Lexa finds herself relaxing at the top of the rock outcropping under a tan canvas. Having already set up in the morning, she double checks everything. Her computer is connected to the explosives that she laid around the road, and the sensors are ready to go as well. Using her binoculars, she double checks that everything is hidden naturally under the sand, rocks, and thin scrub of the arid desert before she looks off into the distance. About 20 miles away, she sees a small dust cloud approaching her. Checking her watch, she smiles as she sees that 'Pretty Boy' is right on time.

Sitting back and stretching our black pant-clad legs out in front of her, Lexa takes a drink of water and begins to snack on a granola bar as she relaxes. She crosses her booted feet and pulls the black tank top away from her stomach, trying to circulate hair to her sweaty skin. Pulling out her knife, she begins idly playing with it, knowing that there is nothing left to do but wait. After five minutes, something breaks the quiet of the desert. Peering out of her cover, she slides her aviators down from the top of her head to look out into the sunny land. Off in the distance, she spies a plane flying towards her. Judging by the speed, size, and cruising altitude of the plane, Lexa deduces that it is not the typical commercial airline. She frowns before reaching behind her and pulling out the rifle. She loads it and sets it next to her, just in case.

As the plane approaches, Lexa continues to watch it warily, and decides to lift up her sunglasses and watch it through her binoculars. It slows, then begins to circle the area near her, before she watches a black, rectangular object fall from the plane. It descends for a few seconds before a parachute deploys. Lexa watches it safely reach the ground, before looking up and seeing another, larger object falling to the ground.

* * *

"Alright Sky Princess, this is your stop! There's no wind today so you're good to go!" The pilot yells back to Clarke.

"Thanks Alistair. Tell Raven and O they can stop calling me that."

The pilot just chuckles before radioing her reply back to Raven and Octavia. Clarke takes the black suitcase and pushes it out of door as the plane begins to circle over her desired location. She waits a few seconds before pressing a button to deploy the parachute on the case. Taking a deep breath, she leaps out of the plane as well, free falling for a few seconds before deploying her own parachute. She floats to the ground, grinning the entire way, before she lands only a few feet away from the case. Looking around, she spies a rock outcropping close to the road where Cage will be passing by. 'That would be a good vantage point to watch the rondevue from.' She thinks to herself. She checks the watch on her left hand and determines that she has at least 10 minutes to scope out the area and get set before Cage will arrive.

Clarke opens the case and pulls out a pair of binoculars. She scans the area, detecting nothing out of the ordinary. She sighs and wipes the sweat from her forehead and pulls a pair of sunglasses on to block out the glare from the sun and a bandanna to protect her face from the sand. Then, she closes up the case and starts marching towards the rock outcropping.

"This is stupid. I'm not doing anything here. I'm not even sure what they expected me to do." She mumbles to herself. There isn't anyone here yet, although she knows that Cage is approaching and his rondevue with the helicopter should be taking place soon. As she passes the road, she kicks a rock in anger. However, the rock doesn't move, and she hears a beeping noise coming from it. Turning the rock over, she sees a sensor underneath it that she must have activated.

"Fuck!" She grabs her case and takes off running towards the shelter of the rock outcropping. Suddenly, she feels a force hit her in the chest and she is thrown backwards.

* * *

Lexa watches through her binoculars as the second parachute reaches the ground. She sees a redhead of average height stand up and scan the area with binoculars. The binoculars pass over her without pausing. 'What is Wanheda doing here? Fuck, she gets in the way of everything.' Lexa thinks to herself. 'Great, this is exactly what I don't need.'

As Lexa watches, Wanheda begins to walk closer to her. Lexa continues watching through her binoculars, looking for any clues as to what she is doing here. 'At least she's easy on the eyes, unlike my last job,' Lexa smirks in appreciation as she checks out the woman's body, although her face is completely hidden from view. As the woman crosses the road and heads towards her, Lexa begins to get uneasy as she knows that the redhead will be passing through her preset roadside bomb.

Suddenly, the redhead kicks a rock near the road.

"Countdown activated." A robotic voice sounds from Lexa's computer.

Lexa starts cursing in Trigedasleng as she sees the clock ticking down on her computer. She grabs the computer and starts typing commands into it. After a few seconds, she growls at it in anger before ripping a cord from the side straight out of the computer, stopping the countdown. Pleased with her efforts, she turns an angry visage back at the woman who was currently ruining all her plans.

Lexa sets the computer aside and picks up her rifle, propping her arms up on a rock as she takes aim at the woman, who is currently running straight at her. Going for the simple and easy shot, she aims right for the woman's chest, before taking a deep breath, slowing her heart rate, and gently squeezing the trigger as she slowly breathes out.

* * *

Clarke grabs her chest in pain as she lies on the sand on her back. She gasps for air and rolls to her side, looking around for cover. Seeing a boulder nearby, Clarke grabs the case next to her and half crawls and staggers her way towards the boulder. Just as she throws herself behind it, a bullet whizzes past her.

"Shit fuck dammit!" Clarke starts cursing as she opens the case. Pulling out a rocket launcher, she makes a note to remind herself to thank Raven for making her order this. Taking a deep breath, Clarke pokes out from behind the boulder to look through the infrared scope. Scanning around, she finally sees the person who shot her at the top of the rock outcropping she was heading towards. She ducks back behind the boulder once again and a bullet impacts right where her head was.

"Damn this fucker's good." Clarke growls, before she rolls to the other side of the boulder. Clarke pops out again and crouches on one knee, breathing hard as she pulls the trigger. The rocket hits just below the top of the rock outcropping, causing an explosion and triggering a rockslide. She pulls out her binoculars and scans the area, looking for any sign of the enemy.

Finding no sign of life, Clarke looks up and sees the convoy that Cage is in, now only about a mile away. Looking in the opposite direction, she sees a helicopter approaching quickly. Clarke grins proudly, until she hears a nearby boom sound from the road, which once again throws her to the ground.

* * *

Lexa looks up from her scope to see the redhead hit the ground. She allows herself a small grin, until she sees the woman roll to her feet and start running for cover. She lowers her eye to the scope and takes aim again, but doesn't get the shot off in time. She growls in frustration at her miss, but waits patiently with her scope trained on the boulder, knowing that she will have to emerge eventually. As the woman pops out from cover, Lexa aims once again, this time for the head, before pulling the trigger. Unfortunately, the woman ducks back down just before the bullet can hit her right between the eyes.

"Damn, she's good." Lexa growls as she continues to train her eye on the boulder. She sees the woman pop out from the other side of the boulder, this time holding a rocket launcher. Before Lexa can shoot her, the redhead fires the weapon.

"Fuck!" Lexa yells, as she turns and runs, trying to get as far away as she can. She manages to make it over the top of the outcropping before the rocket impacts just below her hideout. Lexa is thrown to the ground, but manages to cover her head with one arm and hang on to the side of the small mountain with the other, as debris impacts around her and rocks start sliding down. Lexa gets up and half slides half runs her way down the other side of the outcropping.

As Lexa reaches her horse, she tightens the girth on the saddle and swings herself up. Grabbing the reins, she whips them across her horse's shoulders as she kicks him, urging him immediately into a gallop. She knows that she didn't get Cage, but her roadside bomb may still work. Lexa knows that as _Heda_ , the most important thing is her life; she can always come up with a new identity. Knowing that this failure will most likely put Clarke in danger, Lexa feels a pang of guilt, but knows that there was nothing she could do to avoid it. Wanheda has been one of their biggest challenges over the past few years, but no longer. Hopefully the footage on her binoculars will be enough for them to locate her, so Lexa can finally put an end to her. As she rides off, Lexa hears a second explosion sound behind her, but doesn't look back. Knowing that she needs to get the footage to Polis immediately to be analyzed, Lexa pulls out a radio and quickly transmits a coded message to the Sankru outpost. No economy for the return trip; she's calling in a private plane. What's the use of being _Heda_ if she can't pull rank every once in a while.

* * *

Clarke covers her ears and curls into a ball as fiery debris rains down on her from near the road. When her ears stop ringing, she stands up and sees a large crater in the dirt road, a retreating helicopter, and three SUVs turning around and heading in the opposite direction.

Clarke groans, knowing that Jaha will not be happy with her failure. However, the other woman evidently failed as well, which means that Cage is still out there with the intel, so everything is not a total loss. She takes her binoculars out again and scans around, until she sees what looks like a black horse heading off in the distance.

If the other woman is alive, she could identify Clarke, so Clarke starts poking around the debris looking for anything to identify her opponent. As she starts moving around, her chest protests with a painful throb. She rips her shirt and reaches into her bulletproof vest to pull out a crushed bullet. 'Well this won't be helpful.' She grumbles as she tosses it to the ground. She pulls a satellite phone from her pocket and makes a call to Raven to send someone to pick her up, before starting to walk around the crater in the road. Finding nothing, she heads up to the rock outcropping.

As Clarke climbs up the loose gravel and rocks, she begins to think over what she saw. Through her scope, she saw a slight woman, with dark brown hair, dressed in all black with black paint around her eyes. 'I wonder if that was the Commander. It would make sense; they say she's the best, so if Cage had important information on the Coalition they might send her. Everyone has just assumed the Commander was a man, but there's no intel saying it couldn't be a woman.' Clarke continues to ponder her predicament as she finally reaches the top. Looking around, she finds a burned sliver of wrapper, most likely from a granola bar. As she lifts up a rock, she finds a broken, burned laptop.

"Hopefully, Raven can get something from this." Clarke says to herself, as she picks it up and makes one last sweep of the area before she heads down from the outcropping. By the time she reaches the ground and gathers the rest of her gear, a helicopter is pulling in. It touches down for only a second before Clarke is jumping in and indicating for the pilot to fly out. Hopefully by the time she makes it back to her hotel and collects her gear, the plane will be ready to go. She needs to get back to Arkadia as fast as she can so Raven can start working on the laptop.


	13. Arkadia

Early the next morning, Clarke departs from her plane in a horrible mood. Due to the sudden, necessary departure of some very important executive in a larger private plane, their take off slot had been pushed back. Then, she slept horribly on the plane, kept awake from stress about her failed mission, her potential meeting with the Commander, and her troubles with Lexa. Now, she will most likely spend all of her morning getting debriefed by the Council, followed by the rest of the day spent searching for the woman who shot her. As she hobbles down the steps from the airplane, the sight of her two best friends greets her.

"Well this is a surprise." Clarke looks between the two of them, trying to discern the reason for their presence.

"We brought coffee!" Octavia cheerily says, handing Clarke the cup.

Clarke takes the cup and sips it, sighing in satisfaction. "I'm gonna need this if I want to make I through the day. How bad is it?"

"Well…" Octavia begins hesitantly.

"Jaha is pissed. Like someone shat in his cereal pissed. Kane is a little more understanding; you know how he is. Your mother…" Raven trails off, so Octavia picks up for her.

"Your mother is really angry. But it's the 'I'm really worried for my daughter so I'm covering it up with intense anger' angry."

Raven rubs the back of her neck sheepishly as she adds, "Well she's also mad that you went behind their backs and set up a 'meet' with the Commander so…"

"What?" Clarke screeches. "Why did you tell her, Raven?"

"I didn't tell her! She walked into the office as I was sending a message back to them! You know I can't lie to Dr. G." Raven whines.

"Yeah, that's cuz you have a crush on her." Octavia snickers.

Clarke looks horrified, and Raven glares at Octavia. "No I don't! She's attractive; I can acknowledge that without having a crush on her! She's like my second mother." Clarke's horror only continues to grow, so Raven turns the attention back to her. "Besides, what were you going to do, just show up without any backup? Without any support?"

"No! Of course not! I would have you and O, and the rest of D squad!"

"Still don't know why you named us D squad. It makes us sound like a bunch of frat bros." Octavia snickers.

Clarke proceeds to smack Octavia's bicep hard enough to bruise. "It stands for delinquents! Because you guys always misbehave and get into trouble. You should all be in jail."

Before Raven and Octavia can defend themselves, a loud shout interrupts them.

"Clarke!" The three women look up to see Abby running towards them.

"Hi, Mom." Clarke says sheepishly as Abby crushes her into a hug. When she winces, Abby immediately pulls back.

"What's wrong? I heard you were hurt! What happened?"

"I'm fine, a bullet caught my vest. It's just a bruise." Clarke quickly tries to reassure her mother.

"You were shot? Let me see." Abby immediately tries to pull up Clarke's shirt, searching for the injury. Clarke catches Raven giving her a sarcastic wink as she openly checks out her bra-covered chest.

"Mom!" Clarke protests, pulling down her shirt despite Abby's insistent hands. "I'm fine, really. No need to take off my shirt in public."

"Well if you're sure you're alright…"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now can we just go talk to the rest of the Council so I can get started on finding the person who shot me?"

"Of course. Let's go." Abby looks Clarke over once more before she releases her and leads the group of women into Arkadia.

* * *

"So you think the Commander is the person who shot you… And that the Commander is a woman?" Jaha asks, clearly in doubt, as he looks around at the other council members and Clarke seated around the table with him.

Clarke replies with a matter of fact tone. "Yes. Dark brown hair, around my height, thin. It makes sense. The intel that Cage could be extremely dangerous to the Coalition, and supposedly the Commander is the best, so it only makes sense that they would send her."

Jaha leans back in his chair, clearly in deep thought. "It's possible, but I don't care who it was, you know the rules. You need to take her out."

Clarke slams her hand on the table and leans forward. "If she's the Commander, and I take her out, which you know I will, then there's no chance for making a deal with them."

Mimicking her daughter, Abby slams her hand on the table as well. "Clarke, enough with this peace! The Council has voted, and we have decided that it's not an option. You wanted to be part of the company, with no special treatment, and listening to the Council's decisions is part of that!"

Before Abby can continue, Marcus interrupts in an attempt to cool the fiery tempers of the Griffin women. "Clarke, we have discussed this at length and voted, as per our charter. I know you may not like our decision, but it's the one we have come to. Now Abby, I think it's time we stopped chastising Clarke and let her get on with her job."

Abby shoots Marcus a glare, but refrains from saying more. Clarke looks around the table one more time at the Council, before huffing and leaving, allowing the door to slam behind her.

As Clarke storms out of the meeting room, she is met by Octavia. Upon seeing the look on her friend's face, she remains silent and follows Clarke into the elevator and down to the basement where Raven's workshop is located.

"Did you find anything on the computer?" Clarke gruffly questions Raven.

"Jeez, calm down, I just got it. But I'm not sure how useful it's going to be, it's burned pretty badly." Raven holds up the severely charred and cracked laptop before she continues examining the computer.

After a moment, Clarke, still frustrated, turns away from watching Raven work, making to leave the workshop. "I'm just going to get Wick, see if he can help you find something."

"No!" Raven angrily shouts.

Clarke turns around, surprised at her friend's outburst, and looks to Octavia in question.

"She slept with Wick while you were on the mission."

"What?" "Octavia!" Clarke and Raven shout at the same time.

Octavia shrugs, and Clarke turns to Raven with a raised eyebrow, clearly not letting it go.

Raven looks down sheepishly at her computer. "A girl's got needs, you know? And he's hot… Look, it was a long night, we were stuck here together… It happened, it's done. Nothing more."

"Are you sure it was just one night? The sexual tension between you two is insane." Octavia asks.

Clarke quickly joins the interrogation. "Raven, I know it's hard for you to trust again after Finn cheated on you, but it's time, and if you like Wick you should go for it."

"Ah ha!" Raven shouts excitedly. "I found something."

"Lucky timing, eh Rae?" Octavia jokes.

Raven turns to glare at Octavia, but is quickly refocused as Clarke pulls Raven's chair out from the desk so that she can sit on her lap and stare at the computer.

"What is it?"

"Jeez, Griffin, warn a girl first." Raven jokes, but is quickly silenced by Clarke's elbow to the ribs. "Alright, alright, chill! Ok see this?" Raven reaches around Clarke to point to a small chip in the bottom of the laptop. "So whoever owns this laptop has old technology. Now, usually, that would be a piece of cake, but the way the software is set up, there's no way I could pull anything from it without destroying it. I guess that's why they never switched to newer security. However, because I'm the best, I looked at the physical parts inside the computer. This chip has a serial number on it," Raven explains as she points to the chip, "and if I can hack into company records to find out who bought it, we will have found your girl." As she finishes, Raven shoves Clarke off her lap onto the floor, and then rolls around the blonde's stunned form to start extracting the computer chip. "Pay back's a bitch, eh Clarkey?" Raven snickers.

Clarke rolls her eyes, but picks herself up and goes to stand next to Octavia.

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Octavia quietly murmurs to Clarke.

"What are you talking about? You know how stressful work is." Clarke whispers back.

"Clarke, I'm your best friend. I know when something's up, and this is not just about work. I saw your face when you got off that plane."

"I'm fine, O." Clarke defends.

"No, you're not. Now tell me what's going on. Did you have another fight with Lexa?"

"O, I told you, I'm just stressed about this hit. I have never been ID'd before, ok? That's all it is."

Octavia looks like she is going to continue to question Clarke, but she is interrupted by Raven.

"Alright, I got the address. Now go get her, lion."

"Lion? What are you saying?" Octavia frowns at Raven.

"I'm not going to say 'go get her tiger!' With her blonde hair, Clarke is clearly a lion, not a tiger." Raven quips back.

Clarke leaves the two to their bickering and quickly leaves the lab to go find the woman who shot her and almost blew her up.

* * *

Clarke steps out of the taxi in front of the address that Raven handed her and takes a moment to take in her surroundings. She is wearing dark jeans and boots with a hoodie with the hood up partially covering her face so that she is mostly covered and unrecognizable.

"Polis Tower, this is the building that Lexa works in." Clarke says out loud to herself. A passerby gives her a strange look for talking to herself, but Clarke disregards them and heads inside.

'I should probably call Lexa and tell her I'm home so we can talk.' Clarke thinks as she heads to the directory. She pulls out her phone as she checks the slip of paper to see which suite the address is. As the phone rings, Clarke starts looking on the directory for the penthouse suite.

The phone rings twice, before a familiar voice answers.

"Polis Legal Services, how may I help you?"

"Hi Echo, it's Clarke."

"Clarke hey! How are you?"

"I'm doing well. Could you tell Lexa that I just got back from my trip and will be home for dinner? I can pick something up if she wants?"

As Clarke hears Echo's muffled voice relaying her message, she finds the label for the penthouse and scrolls her finger across to see the company name. When she sees who works in the penthouse, she nearly drops her phone.

"Holy fuck…"

"Clarke? Are you ok?"

Clarke's jaw is still slack, but she manages to pull herself together. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I just… Tripped."

"Lexa said she can make dinner, it's at 7. And she looks forward to talking to you."

"I'm sure she does. Thanks Echo." Clarke hangs up the phone without waiting for a reply. Before she leaves, she looks one more time at the information that just flipped her world upside down.

Penthouse - Polis Legal Services: Lexa Woods, CEO

* * *

 **AN:** Hey so I'm studying abroad so my updates will be a little more sporadic, but don't give up on this story because I certainly am not!


	14. Polis

Lexa storms off the elevator angrily into the penthouse of Polis Tower. After an hour of riding hard through the desert, she had made it back to the Sankru outpost, where she had only stopped long enough to grab her stuff before hopping into the fastest car Calvin owned and racing to the airport. When she arrived, her private plane was waiting for her and ready for take off. On the plane, she had meditated about the failed hit on Cage and thought through what her next steps should be. Thinking about her failure only served to increase her rage.

"I want to know who this bitch is." Lexa growls as she tosses the tape from her binoculars to Echo. She storms past Gustus and Titus into the conference room where Anya is waiting for her.

After giving Lexa a once over, Anya picks up the phone and mumbles quietly into it as Lexa paces around the room.

"First Wanheda wanted to make a deal and now she tries to kill me? This ends now." Lexa punctuates sentence by slamming her fist on the table.

"It must end now, _Heda_. You know the rules. For the safety of the Coalition you must end _Wanheda_ 's fight within 48 hours." Titus tells Lexa sagely, as he closes the door behind him and Gustus.

Lexa turns to glare at him, but refrains from verbalizing her annoyance with her advisor. Instead, she turns to Anya. " _Onya, Gostos_ , I need you to go over the footage with me. Cage was a threat, but _Wanheda_ is a bigger one. Let's find out who she really is."

Anya and Gustus both nod, just as a knock sounds at the door.

"Enter." Lexa calls out, still riled up.

A tall, imposing woman dressed all in white enters the room. " _Heda_ , I'm glad to see that you are alive, not so many people can count themselves lucky to escape _Wanheda_." The woman smiles maliciously at Lexa.

"Nia." Lexa growls a greeting. "What brings you to Polis?"

"I heard about your run in with _Wanheda_ and thought I should offer my assistance as I was in town."

"That won't be necessary."

"It seems like you are not in a position to be turning down assistance. After all, if you can't find _Wanheda_ , the woman who has evaded us for years, in two days…" Nia trails off with a fake sympathetic look.

Lexa stands tall and imposing as she steps towards the Ice Queen, staring her down. "While you may rule the Ice Nation, I am still _Heda_. You will do well to respect that." Anya and Gustus step up behind Lexa, backing her up.

After a moment, Nia, realizing that she is outnumbered, tips her head ever so slightly in deference. "Of course, _Heda_. I will leave you to it."

As Nia exits the conference room, Echo enters with a flash drive in her hand. She plugs it into the computer and waits for it to load.

As Lexa continues to glare in the direction that Nia disappeared in, Anya walks up behind Lexa and puts her hand on Lexa's shoulder to hold her still as she examines a large scrape on her shoulder blade. "This needs stitches and a good cleaning. There's dust and gravel in it." Lexa stiffens as Anya prods her wound and turns her head to growl at her former mentor. Anya just raises an eyebrow and points to a chair, asserting her authority.

After a few seconds, Lexa relents and sits. Anya grabs a first aid kit from a cabinet in the room and dons gloves to begin cleaning Lexa's wound.

There is silence for a few moments as Gustus and Titus take their seats around the table facing the TV. Once everyone has settled and Lexa seems a bit calmer, Echo glances at Lexa warily, then tentatively says, " _Heda_ , I have a copy of the footage here, and I sent a copy down to the analysts to see if they can find anything. Would you like me to play it?"

Lexa goes to speak, but winces as she feels a sharp pain in her shoulder. She turns her head to glare at Anya over her shoulder as the older woman threads a needle through her skin.

"If you were sloppy enough to get injured…"

"I need to feel my injuries so it don't let it happen again. I know, _Onya_." Lexa growls half-heartedly at her former mentor. Anya hums in approval and continues her ministrations. Lexa turns her head to Echo and tilts her head at the window, indicating that she should close the blinds.

Echo closes the blinds, blocking out prying eyes from within and outside Polis Tower. She glances at Lexa one more time for approval before playing the video.

The group watches the video, and then watches it again, and again, and again. Each viewing only brings Lexa more frustration. They watch it in slow motion, then normal speed, then double speed, yet they still find nothing helpful.

"Gustus, go talk to the analysts, see if they found anything." Lexa orders. Gustus silently stands and leaves, heading down a few floors below.

After several more viewings, Titus sighs and tells Lexa, " _Heda_ , there is nothing here for us to see on this tape. If we declare war on Skaikru, however, we will no doubt draw out _Wanheda_."

"I will not put my people at risk by declaring a war that I can prevent. If you're not going to help, get out." Lexa snarls at Titus.

Titus looks like he is going to protest, but checks himself at the last moment. He stands and bows his head, adding an "As you wish, _Heda_ " on his way out the door.

Lexa brings her hands to her face and begins to rub her eyes in frustration and exhaustion.

"I'll go get us some coffee." Anya says in response to Lexa's obvious exhaustion. Knowing how tired and frustrated her former second is, Anya briefly squeezes Lexa's shoulder in comfort on her way out the door. Lexa flashes her a small smile before returning her gaze back to the video.

Lexa pulls the laptop closer to her so she can manipulate the video better. She watches as first the case holding the rocket launcher falls from the sky, then the woman. She zooms in, attempting to find an identifying mark on the case or the parachute, but she is unable to find anything. She zooms in on the woman's face, but it is blurry. However, as she watches the wind buffet the woman's hair, she catches a flash of yellow. 'Maybe her hair isn't red after all.' Lexa thinks to herself. She fast-forwards to after she first shot the woman, when she was running for cover behind the rock. As Lexa slows it down, she catches another flash of brilliant gold color, one of the most beautiful blonde colors she has seen. 'So Wanheda is really a blonde.' Lexa mentally notes, knowing that this would change their entire profile on her opponent.

After watching the video another time to confirm her suspicions, Lexa goes back to the beginning to watch it in slow motion once again. As Lexa watches the woman stand up after her plummet to the Earth, Lexa notices that she checks the time on a watch on her left hand. Lexa zooms in, but discovers that the watch is only a cheap, ordinary watch. It looks several years old, however, and somewhat familiar. As the video plays on, Lexa notices that _Wanheda_ does shoot at her with the gun in her left hand.

A phone rings outside the conference room, disturbing Lexa's focus, and so she waves her hand at Echo to answer it.

"Great, so all I know is that she's blonde, is left-handed, and has a sentimental attachment to an old watch." Lexa grumbles, but continues to watch the video, seeing if she has missed anything else. She stares intently; trying to absorb everything she is seeing.

"Lexa, it's Clarke." Echo says as she sticks her head into the room. Echo pauses, waiting for an answer, but Lexa only leans closer to the screen. As the video plays, Lexa's eyes widen and her jaw goes slack, but she remains silent.

Unsure how to continue, Echo prompts Lexa. "She says she's back from her trip and wants to know if she should pick up something for dinner?"

Lexa swallows hard. "Tell her I will make dinner, it should be ready by 7. And I look forward to speaking with her."

Confused, Echo asks Lexa, "But what about _Wanheda_?"

Without answering, Lexa stands up abruptly and briskly walks out the door without looking back.

Echo relays the message to Clarke before hanging up. She is at a loss as to what just happened, until Anya walks into the conference room holding two cups of coffee.

"Where's Lexa?" Anya pierces Echo with a questioning stare.

"She just left. Clarke called and she practically ran out the door."

Anya sighs and sits down to continue watching the video. Annoyed with her friend, she grumbles, " _Hodnes laik kwelnes."_

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry it's short, but I wanted to include Lexa's point of view! Also, the next chapter should be a big one so I'm trying to get to that one ASAP


	15. Dinner at 7

Clarke squeals the tires as she takes the final turn onto their street too sharply. After visiting Polis Tower and making her discovery about Lexa, Clarke had been forced to take a long taxi ride back Arkadia to retrieve her car before she could head home. While at the Ark, she also made sure to arm herself, just in case. As she backs into her garage, she checks the time, noting that it is only a few moments after 7. She makes sure to close the garage door before getting out of the car, making sure to grab the Glock from the passenger seat first. She heads to the trunk to put the gun into her suitcase, then closes the trunk quietly and begins wheeling the suitcase behind her.

As Clarke steps out of the garage into the open space behind the house, she glances around warily. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she cautiously and slowly walks to the back door, before tentatively opening it. Seeing no one in the kitchen, she takes off her coat and leaves her suitcase sitting by the back door. As she looks up, she is startled and jumps as she sees Lexa standing in front of her holding two glasses of wine.

"Sorry babe, didn't mean to scare you." Lexa says with smug smile and a raised eyebrow.

"It's fine, you didn't." Clarke lets out her breath and smiles at Lexa.

"You're just in time for dinner." Lexa tells her, handing her the glass.

Clarke takes the glass from Lexa and takes a sip, before flashing her a cocky grin. "Aren't I always?"

Lexa raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment. "Would you like to sit down? Everything's ready, and then we can talk over dinner." Lexa turns and starts heading into the dining room without waiting for a reply, but she looks over her shoulder to flash Clarke a small smile.

"Sounds great." Clarke replies, following Lexa into the dining room. As Clarke steps into the dining room, she stops in shock to take in the sight. "Lex… why are there so many candles? Isn't this a fire hazard?" Clarke gazes upon what must be hundreds of candles spread across the dining room table, fireplace mantle, and various cabinets.

Lexa stops behind a chair at the head of the table, pulling it out for Clarke. She simply says "It's a special occasion."

Clarke looks at Lexa warily, but Lexa just smiles and waits patiently for Clarke to come sit down. Once Clarke takes a seat, Lexa pushes her chair in and caresses Clarke's shoulder as she heads back into the kitchen.

Still nervous, Clarke glances around looking for a weapon within easy reach. Finding none, she takes her knife from the table and slips it up her sleeve. Just then, Lexa walks in carrying a large plate of meat. Clarke smiles in appreciation. "You know I love pot roast."

Lexa smiles back at her before picking up a large knife to begin cutting the meat.

Clarke's eyes go wide, and she jumps up quickly, wrapping an arm around Lexa and putting her hand on top of Lexa's hand holding the knife. "Let me help, I can cut the meat while you get the rest of the food."

"Thank you." Lexa relinquishes her hold on the knife and heads back into the kitchen.

Clarke lets out a sigh of relief and begins to cut the meat. A moment later, Lexa walks back in with a plate of vegetables and another plate of bread. She smiles at Clarke and sets the plates down on the table. Clarke looks back down at the meat to focus on cutting it, until she hears the metallic sound of a knife being unsheathed.

Clarke tenses and looks up, only to find Lexa holding an even bigger knife and happily slicing bread. Clarke tentatively smiles at Lexa, before serving them both some meat and sitting back down, making sure that the knife she used is within reach of her seat.

Lexa sets her knife down and serves them both some bread and vegetables before taking her own seat at the other end of the table. She smiles at Clarke, and asks her, "how was your trip?"

Unsure where Lexa is going with this, Clarke takes a bite of meat to stall for time, then replies. "It was good."

"So do you think your gallery will take on the new artist then?" Lexa asks sweetly.

"Well…" Clarke pauses. "Actually, there's another gallery interested too."

"Really now?" Lexa looks up from her plate and takes a bite, looking intensely at Clarke.

"Yeah. They were already talking to the artist by the time I got there."

"Well, I hope it works out." Lexa smirks at Clarke before returning her gaze to her plate.

Clarke takes a few more bites before asking Lexa, "So how was work while I was gone? I guess you didn't take a few days off like I suggested."

"I did take a small trip like you suggested. Went someplace hot and warm to clear my head. But, sadly, I was called in for an emergency." Lexa gazes intensely at Clarke and takes another bite of dinner without looking away.

Clarke swallows loudly before replying. "Really? What happened?"

"Oh, you know. Rival company tried to steal a client from me. The usual." Lexa throws Clarke a smirk, as Clarke drains the last quarter of her wine glass in one sip.

"That's too bad. More wine?" Clarke asks, as she gets up to grab the bottle from the center of the table.

"Please." Lexa smiles and holds out her glass.

Clarke pours herself her own glass of wine, then heads to the other end of the table to pour Lexa one. However, on her way, she brushes too close to one of the candles and her blouse catches on fire. She jumps and pats it out, but she ends up splashing wine all over her blouse. Instinctively, she sets the bottle down and starts unbuttoning it as fast as she can so she can try to get the stain out before it sets. After taking off her shirt, she looks at Lexa, who had gotten up when her shirt caught on fire but was now just standing there staring at Clarke with wide eyes.

Thoroughly confused, Clarke follows Lexa's gaze to her chest, where a large, dark, circular bruise sits right in the middle of her chest. Lexa's gaze meets Clarke's, and the two gaze at each other for a minute before they both spring into action.

"I should put water on this…" Clarke mumbles as she rushes into the laundry room off the nearby hallway.

"I will get the salt." Lexa says as she runs into the kitchen.

Clarke runs into the laundry room and grabs one of Lexa' T-shirts off the dryer to put on. Then she reaches under the washing machine and pulls out a pistol that she had taped there a few years ago. She emerges from the laundry room with both hands holding the gun out in front of her, alert for any movement or sound.

"Lex?" Clarke calls, as she cautiously steps into the dining room, only to find it empty. She heads for the kitchen, as quiet as possible, and peeks her head around the wall, only to find it empty. She hears tires squealing loudly, and looks out the kitchen window to see Lexa's car speeding out of the driveway. Clarke turns and sprints for the front door, throwing it open and running onto the front lawn, still holding the gun.

"Lexa!" Clarke yells as she watches the car speed out of the driveway and onto the street. The car doesn't stop, however, so Clarke starts sprinting down the street after it.

* * *

As soon as she saw the still darkening bruise in the center of Clarke's chest, she knew. She had tried to kill her wife, the woman she was in love with, yesterday. Clarke was Wanheda. Her wife had tried to kill _her_ too. Clarke worked for the enemy. Even though she had suspected this afternoon, she hadn't _known_.

Unable to process, Lexa made an excuse and ran into the kitchen. She grabbed her keys from the counter and sprinted to her car. She couldn't deal with the fact that the person she had spent the last 6 years living with was the one who had caused her so much trouble.

Lexa jumps in her car and barely waits for the garage door to open before she is pealing out of the driveway as fast as she can. She races past Clarke in the front yard and faintly hears her name, but she doesn't stop.

"How could I be so stupid?" Lexa, completely distraught, shakes her head. "Of course they would try to infiltrate us before an outright attack; their numbers are too low to stand a real chance in a true fight."

Lexa takes the next turn too fast, squealing her tires once again. She accelerates down the street, seeing Clarke burst through back yard trying to catch up to her. She lets go of her pain and lets anger take over. She completely ignores Clarke's shouts of "Lexa!"

In her rearview mirror, Lexa sees Clarke burst onto the street behind her car, yelling "Lexa, stop the car!" Lexa doesn't listen, and angrily presses the accelerator harder. Seconds later, she hears a loud pop, and feels one of her back tires start to spin uselessly as the tire blows. She slams on her brakes and looks fiercely in the rearview mirror to see Clarke still running after her and holding a gun.

Lexa shifts her car into reverse, and steps on the accelerator, shooting the car back towards Clarke. At the last second, she sees Clarke dive to the side of the road. Lexa stops the car, shifts into drive, and looks angrily at Clarke.

Clarke pushes herself to her feet and holds up her hands. "Lexa, we have to talk. I just did it so you would stop." Clarke walks to the front of the car slowly with her hands raised. "Please Lex."

Lexa growls and steps on the accelerator. She hears Clarke yelling at her to stop, but she doesn't. She feels a thump as Clarke hits the hood and rolls onto the roof, but doesn't slow down.

"Lexa!" Clarke shouts as she clings to the roof of the car. "It's not what you think. Let's just calm down so we can talk about this."

Lexa angrily punches the roof and starts swerving the car, trying to knock Clarke off. She makes a left turn heading for top of a hill she knows is a few blocks away.

"Lexa, pull over!" Clarke shouts. Lexa sees the hill approaching and sets the cruise control. She hears the sound of glass shattering as Clarke shoots out a back window. She unlocks her door just as Clarke swings herself into the backseat of the car.

"Lexa, stop!" Clarke yells, just as Lexa swings open her door and rolls out onto the street. Lexa watches the car continue to speed forward with Clarke's face peering out of the back window.

"Lexa, we need to talk!" Lexa watches Clarke yell as the car disappears off the top of the hill and down the street on the other side.

Lexa shakily gets to her feet and brushes her pants off before pulling her phone out and pressing speed dial.

"Anya? I need you to come pick me up."


	16. Separates, but Equals

It's nine at night, and Raven was just about to get into bed after the long mission from the weekend, until she hears a pounding on her door. She groans and grabs her crutches, since she had already taken off her brace for the night. She hobbles down the stairs, grumbling to herself.

"This better be good!" She yells angrily to whoever is on the other side of the door. When she doesn't get a response, she grabs the shotgun by the door and cocks it before peering through the peephole.

"Clarke?" Raven exclaims upon seeing a disheveled looking Clarke standing on her doorstep. She quickly opens the door, and Clarke barges in past her and into her living room.

"I have a problem." Clarke says as she runs her fingers through her hair in agitation. She picks up a round object from the coffee table and starts tossing it back and forth between her hands as she paces around the room.

Raven follows Clarke into her living room and plops onto the couch as she watches Clarke continue to pace.

"We are going to have another problem if you don't stop tossing that grenade around like it's a stress ball."

Clarke freezes and looks down at the grenade in her hands. She tosses it to Raven, who catches it and sets it on the coffee table. Clarke quickly resumes her pacing, except now she is clenching her fists so tightly that her knuckles are white.

"Wow, no lecture about leaving explosives lying around? What is going on, Clarke?"

Clarke stops pacing and takes a deep breath. She looks up at Raven, and says, "I know who the Commander is."

* * *

"Soooo…. You gonna tell me what this is all about?" Anya looks over at Lexa with a raised eyebrow as she continues to drive towards headquarters.

Lexa shakes her head, and continues to sit in silence, processing everything that had just happened.

"Why don't you meditate, and we can talk when we get to Polis? I still don't see why you don't want to just stay at my house." Anya waits for a reply but gets none, and continues to drive. She reaches for the power button on the radio, but her hand is swatted away. She looks over at Lexa to give her a glare, but finds her sitting in the passenger seat with her eyes closed and legs crossed. She rolls her eyes but continues driving in silence.

After 15 minutes, Anya pulls into the Polis parking garage. She pulls into her space, turns off the car, and sits there in silence, waiting for Lexa to be ready.

A minute later, Lexa's eyes slowly open, and she looks straight at Anya with her piercing green gaze. " _Onya_ , I know who _Wanheda_ is."

* * *

Raven, stunned, sits in her living room with widened eyes. " _What_? The _Commander_? What are you doing _here_ then? We should be at the Ark trying to…" Raven trails off as Clarke looks at her with unshed tears in her eyes.

"It's Lexa." Clarke whispers.

"What? Clarke, if you know who the Commander is, you need to put your marital problems aside for just a moment so we can…"

"She is the Commander!" Clarke yells. "Lexa is the Commander. Oh God what am I going to do?" Clarke throws her hands up in the air and covers her face with them.

Raven sits there in stunned silence. "Lexa is the Commander?... How is that even possible? She's so… small."

Clarke looks at her in disbelief. "Raven, she tried to kill me. On the mission. That was _her_. Oh God, and _I_ tried to kill _her_. And now she thinks… Now she thinks…"

Upon seeing Clarke's breathing start to get out of control, Raven gets up as fast as she can and crutches over to Clarke. She takes her by one arm and steers her to the couch, forcing Clarke to sit down in the place she had just occupied. She then heads over to a cabinet, rifles through a few explosives, and pulls out a bottle of tequila, which she hands to Clarke as she takes a seat next to her.

As Clarke tips her head back and takes several swallows straight from the bottle, Raven rubs her back soothingly. "It's going to be OK, Clarke. Just breathe, and start from the beginning. Want me to call O?"

Clarke shakes her head mid-swallow, and puts the bottle down. "No, I don't want to involve her in this. It's too dangerous already, and she has Lincoln and the kids."

"Well, I see how much I matter to you, Griffin." Raven tells Clarke playfully, as she bumps shoulders with her.

Clarke gives a brief chuckle and wraps an arm around Raven to give her an affectionate squeeze, but she quickly turns serious once again. "Ray, she thinks I knew it was her all along. That I was… a spy or something. You should have seen her face. Not to mention the fact that I am still under the 48 hour rule, so I am supposed to kill her, and who knows what the Grounders do when you they get ID'd on a hit… What do I do?"

"Well… What did she do when she found out who you were?" Raven asks Clarke.

Clarke mumbles a few words and takes a few more swallows from the bottle.

Raven looks at Clarke in confusion. "What was that?"

"She got in her car and ran away and then tried to run me over with it when I shot out her back tire." Clarke mumbles sheepishly.

Raven looks at Clarke in disbelief. "Clarke, she tried to _kill_ you."

"No she didn't! She was just… confused." Clarke defends, while taking another sip from the bottle and then cradling it in her hands.

"Clarke, did it ever occur to you that she was spying on _you_?"

Clarke opens her mouth to reply, but then pauses and starts thinking. After a moment, and another sip from the bottle, she answers Raven. "No, that's not possible. After 5 years, I know her. The look on her face wasn't fake. She was so sad. God Ray, even though we have had our problems, I still _love_ her, how am I going to kill her?"

Seeing that Clarke has passed the point where she can properly think through her situation, she gets up and goes to the closet to pull a blanket and pillow out for her friend. When she comes back, she sees tears welling up in Clarke's eyes again.

"Hey, Clarke, don't cry. You can talk to Lexa tomorrow, OK? But you need to rest first, think some things through. Everything is going to be alright."

Clarke sniffles, but lays down, wrapping the blanket around herself. "Thanks, Ray. For everything."

"Of course, Clarke. You're family. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow you can start fresh." Raven kisses Clarke's forehead and turns out the light before heading upstairs to her own bed.

As she listens to Raven make her way up the stairs, Clarke rolls onto her side, still clutching the bottle of tequila. She starts to think about Lexa, and their past 5 years together. Tears start to roll down her face, but she sniffs and wipes them away. She pulls the blanket tighter around herself and, after a few more minutes, falls asleep.

* * *

After Lexa's startling revelation, Anya had quickly gotten out of the car and headed as fast as she could to the elevator, with a reluctant Lexa in tow. After ascending the 50 floors and going through the security protocol, Anya leads Lexa to the conference room and sits down across from her.

"Tell me who she is. Tell me _everything_."

Lexa looks down at the table, fiddling with her hands for a moment. A lone tear falls from her eye, which she quickly wipes away. Swallowing, she looks up at Anya and says, "It's Clarke."

Anya looks at Lexa for a moment, completely puzzled. "What about Clarke? I thought we were talking about _Wanheda_?"

"Clarke is _Wanheda_."

Anya looks at Lexa, completely stunned, before she bursts out laughing. But when she looks up at Lexa, she finds her face completely stoic and unchanged. "Wait, you're serious?" Lexa just nods her head in affirmation. "How is that even possible?"

Lexa sighs, and looks away from Anya's gaze. "I think she was sent in undercover, to figure out what she could about the Coalition and me. Once she knew all she could, she could take me out, and during the ensuing battle for control within the clans, the Skaikru could make their strike against us. No telling if they would actually succeed, but it would be much better odds of success than an all out frontal attack."

Anya gets up and makes her way around the table to sit next to Lexa. She puts a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes. "Lex, are you OK?"

Lexa looks at Anya with clear pain in her eyes, but before she can reply, Titus walks in.

The two women turn their heads to watch as Titus bows, and then speaks. " _Heda_ , I was alerted about your arrival to Polis. At such a late hour, I thought you could use my assistance."

Anya removes her hand from Lexa's shoulder and turns to dismiss him, but Lexa speaks first.

"Actually, we could use your assistance. I'm afraid that we find ourselves in a predicament. _Onya_ and I are too close to the matter. Your wisdom would be much appreciated."

Titus nods his head respectfully. "Of course _Heda_ , that is what I am here for."

Anya turns to glare at Lexa. "Lexa, I don't think now is the time..."

Lexa cuts Anya off with a look. "Neither one of us can think rationally about the situation, you because you care about me, and I because I care about Clarke." Anya looks like she is about to protest, but Anya turns to Titus and continues speaking. "I recently discovered that _Wanheda_ is Clarke, my wife."

"She is _Wanheda_?" Titus seems shocked. "That blonde woman has been the one who has been causing constant stress to you and the Coalition? I think it is clear what you have to do, not to mention what follows after you got ID'd on that hit. You must strike her down and kill her."

Upon hearing Titus' words, Lexa looks out the window, while Anya just glares at Titus.

"It's not that simple, Titus." Anya growls at him.

Titus only glares back at her before starting his lecture for Lexa. "It is that simple. _Heda_ , I have been by your side since you were chosen as the Commander, and an advisor to those before you as well. A Commander's life is meant to be spent alone. Remember what happened with Costia? You let your feelings for her overshadow your duty, and she paid the ultimate price for it. _Wanheda_ has spent the past 6 years in your bed spying on you. Don't let the Coalition suffer for your mistakes as Costia did. _Hodnes laik kwelnes, Leksa_."

Lexa slams her fist down on the table and stands up. She turns to face Titus with a fierce glare on her face. " _Ai laik Heda_. I am more than capable of separating my feelings from duty. You're dismissed." Lexa flicks her hand at Titus in a clear dismissal and turns to Anya. "Anya, call Gustus and Indra. Tell them to be here in 6 hours. I'm going to rest."

Before Anya can reply, Lexa turns walks out of the room, heading into her office. She closes the door and heads over to her closet to grab the blanket and pillow that she keeps there. She then walks to her couch and sets them down, before heading over to her desk.

Lexa sits in the leather chair and slides her favorite knife out from underneath her desk in front of her. Leaning back with her feet up on the desk, she starts absentmindedly playing with the knife. Thoughts of Clarke and their past 6 years together play through her mind. Sure, they were going through a rough patch, but the years before it had been good. Great even. Lexa sighs, and pauses her twirling of the knife, as she thinks of how she is possibly going to kill Clarke, the woman that she is in love with and has spent the past 6 years with.

The pain Lexa feels upon thinking of Clarke dead, especially at her hands, is unfathomable. Instead, she goes back to thinking of the good times. After a few moments, realizing that her thoughts are just going round and round in circles, Lexa gets up and goes to lie down on the couch. After another hour of trying to quiet her thoughts, she finally falls asleep with her favorite knife still in her hands and a lone tear rolling down her face.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry this took me so long, but I'm back home from study abroad, so I should be able to update more often! Message me if you want to say hey, make a request, make a correction, or discuss something! We've got some pretty big chapters coming up, I hope you're excited because I am! :D


	17. Kom War

**AN:** I am sorry this took longer than expected! I was traveling again, and then then I rethought the next few chapters and decided to rearrange them. Good news, half of the next chapter is already written, so it shouldn't take as long.

* * *

The next morning, Anya knocks on Lexa's office door and walks in to find her still asleep on the couch, cuddled up with her favorite knife. She clears her throat and loudly speaks, " _Heda_." Lexa wrinkles her eyebrows and pulls the blanket a little tighter around herself, but continues sleeping. Anya sighs and allows her gaze to roam over her best friend's face. Anya can see the bags under her eyes, but knows how mad Lexa would be if she allowed her to sleep much longer.

Anya crouches down next to Lexa and gently places her hand on her arm. "Lex, time to get up."

Lexa shoots upright, knife at the ready. Luckily, Anya is used to waking her former second up, and she is already a safe distance away. "It's 5:30 AM, _Heda_ , Indra and Gustus will both here soon."

Lexa sleepily rubs her eyes and looks at Anya. "Thanks, Ahn."

Anya bows her head. "You're welcome, _Heda_. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Lexa looks at Anya apologetically. " _Onya_ , don't be like that. I'm sorry about last night, I just… Please, Ahn, I need you. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to be a good leader and deal with this… situation."

Anya sighs, and goes to sit next to Lexa. "Lex, you don't have to do exactly what Titus says. Sure, he has advised a lot of past commanders, but _you_ aren't like the past commanders. You united the clans, you brought us peace, you are _so close_ to getting rid of the Mountainmen. _You_ are unlike any of the past commanders. And you did all of that when you were _with_ Clarke. You have already proven that you _can_ separate your feelings from your duty. I know that whatever happens, you will do what needs to be done. I believe in you, now you just have to believe in yourself."

After processing Anya's words, Lexa looks at her and says, "You're right, Ahn. Thank you."

Anya pats Lexa on the back briefly while telling her, "Of course I'm right, I'm the best. Now, let's go over everything that happened, and then make a plan."

"Alright, but I need to shower before Indra and Gustus get here." Lexa gets up and walks into the bathroom, unbuttoning her blouse on the way. After leaving the door cracked, she turns on the water and finishes undressing. When she gets in the shower, it's warm, and she allows the soothing water to cascade over her body for a moment, until she hears Anya enter and close the door behind her.

"Start from the beginning, and tell me everything." Anya demands, as she puts the toilet seat down to sit on.

"Ok." Lexa begins as she turns around to get her hair wet. "So I was looking over the video footage from the hit, and all I could figure out was that the Wanheda was actually a blonde, was left-handed, and wore a crappy watch on her wrist."

As Lexa begins to rub shampoo into her hair, she hears Anya snort. "Lex, that could literally be almost anyone in the entire world."

Lexa sticks her soapy head out of the shower to glare at Anya. "Ahn, I am aware of that." Anya just raises her eyebrows at Lexa in a 'please, continue' manner, so Lexa puts her head back in the shower to finish soaping and rinsing while she continues her story. "Anyways, so I was rewatching the footage, trying to see if there was anything else I could find, when Clarke called the office asking about dinner."

"Lex, you are literally describing a normal day. Except for the days when Clarke cooks, because usually we order food to split before you go home." Anya snickers as she thinks of how many times Lexa has complained about Clarke's cooking.

"Anya, you know I'm not the greatest cook either. It's not her fault. She's busy."

"Yeah, and now we know why. I knew that an art gallery wouldn't keep her that busy."

Lexa rolls her eyes as she massages the conditioner into her hair. "So Clarke calls, and I'm watching the footage, and everything just hit me. The way Wanheda walked, her movements, it just… clicked. So I raced home, and I was going to confront her, but then she was taking off her shirt…"

Anya hastily interrupts Lexa. "Whoa, Lex, you can just skip on to the next part. I don't need to hear about you and Clarke getting it on."

"That's not what was happening, I just found out that she was Wanheda and tried to kill me, I wasn't going to sleep with her!" Lexa defends.

"Well then please explain why she was taking off her shirt, and how it is relevant to this story."

Lexa is a silent for moment, as she rinses the conditioner from her hair. She starts to wash her face, and mumbles unintelligibly while she's doing it.

Anya begins to scold Lexa. "What the hell did you just say? All I heard was 'fire' and 'wine' and 'candles'."

Lexa groans, knowing that her former mentor will tease her incessantly for this. Lexa rushes out the story as fast as she can. "I lit a bunch of candles, and Clarke had a bottle of wine in her hand, and she caught on fire, and she spilled it all over herself, so she started taking off her shirt, and I saw the bruise from when I shot her in the chest while she was wearing a vest…"

Anya cuts Lexa off with a loud laugh. "You lit Clarke on fire with your candle obsession? Oh my God, I wish I was there! That would have been hilarious!" Anya continues to laugh for another moment, until Lexa sticks her hand out of the shower and flicks her in the face with water.

"Anyaaaaa…" Lexa whines.

"Fine, fine. So you saw that your blonde, left-handed wife who wears her father's old watch happened to have a circular bruise on her chest in the exact same place that you shot someone the day before, and you concluded that she must be the assassin we have been hunting for the past five years?"

Once again, Lexa sticks her head out of the shower to look at Anya. "You didn't see her face, Anya! When our eyes met…"

"Ok, Romeo, this isn't a Nicholas Sparks movie."

"I'm serious! Ahn, we just looked at each other, and I knew. I know Clarke, and I could just tell that she knew, and that she knew that I knew, and then we just… I ran away, and she chased after me with a gun, and I got away then called you. Ahn, I don't know what to do now."

Anya sighs, looking at the dejected face of her best friend, and uses her hand to shove Lexa's head back in the shower. "First, you can finish cleaning yourself before Indra and Gustus get here." Anya pauses, and listens carefully, hearing a sniff come from the shower and then movement as Lexa finishes soaping her body. Internally, Anya groans at the fact that her normally stoic, strong friend - the one she trained to be a great and ruthless assassin and leader - has been reduced to a heartbroken girl. However, she did take pride in the fact that Clarke was literally Lexa's only weakness, and that she knew that Lexa would have the strength to do what needed to be done. She had pounded "duty over heart" into Lexa since the day she started training her, and it wouldn't fail her now. "Second, we are going to treat this as a normal investigation: figure out who Clarke is, what level she is in her company, everything about her that we don't already know. This is not your wife, this is _Wanheda_ : she is the enemy."

Lexa sighs, and shuts off the water. "Anya, I have lived with her for 6 years. Don't you think I know everything there is to know about her?"

"Apparently, you don't." Anya gets up and grabs two towels, passing them around the shower curtain to Lexa.

Lexa takes time to dry herself off, wrapping one towel around her hair and one around her body. Stepping out of the shower, she stands straight, looking as regal as she can fresh out of the shower and looking Anya in the eyes with her Commander face. "Ok, we will search my house, go through camera footage, investigate the art gallery, and run background checks on Clarke, her friends, and her family, and anything else you can think to do. If it turns out that she was a spy…" Lexa pauses to take a deep breath and look down at her feet. Clenching her jaw, she returns her gaze to Anya's. "If she is spy, we will have to do whatever we can to find out what she knows. Against all odds, even if she truly didn't know who I was…" Lexa stops talking as her voice quivers. "We cannot…" Lexa takes a deep breath, trying to control her emotions, and wipes a tear away. "Even if she wasn't sent to spy on me, she already knows too much about me, and if she was a spy, then she definitely knows too much. I cannot allow her to use that information. I have to protect the Coalition, even if that means…"

Anya sees the pain and struggle that is in Lexa's eyes, but she doesn't comment, knowing it will be easier this way. "I will call in the tech guys to get started on the background checks. I will see if we can tap her phone, tell them to set up notifications for her credit cards, and have them pull everything they can from the database on _Wanheda_. Indra and Gustus should be here by now, I will leave you to get dressed while I brief them."

Lexa nods her head in affirmation and brushes past Anya to get clean clothes from the closet in her office. "Be armed and ready to leave in 20."

"Of course, Heda." Anya calls over her shoulder on her way out of the office.

Lexa is in full commander mode as she spends a few more moments towel drying her hair before brushing it and putting it up in a bun. She then puts on black cargo pants and a black T-shirt, finishing her look off with black combat boots. Just as she is about to head down to the armory, she hears the door open and turns around to see Anya entering.

"I brought your favorite gun, a few throwing knives, and an extra knife to go in your boot." Anya pauses for a moment, knowing that she hasn't done this since she taught Lexa to do it herself as a teenager, but decides that her former second could use the comfort. "Also, if you would like, I could braid your hair for you."

Lexa sends Anya a small but affectionate and grateful smile, before taking her hair out of her bun and sitting down on the ground in front of her couch. "Thanks, Ahn."

Anya doesn't reply, but heads over to sit on the couch behind Lexa. She runs her hands through Lexa's still wet hair, soothingly, detangling all the knots from the thick curls. The two sit in silence, as Anya quickly but gently weaves Lexa's usual, complicated pattern into her hair. Lexa closes her eyes and leans into Anya's touch, allowing herself to take comfort in this brief moment.

Once Anya finishes the braids, she pats the top of Lexa's head and stands up, holding out her hands to help Lexa up too. Lexa uses Anya's hands to pull herself to stand upright, and, looking her former mentor in the eyes, she fixes the Commander mask onto her face, nods once, and strides confidently out the door and into the elevator, with Anya close on her heels. The two wait in silence as the elevator descends into the parking garage, and when the doors open, Lexa is greeted by Indra and Gustus standing at attention next to two black SUVs.

"Heda." The two say simultaneously as they both bow their heads briefly.

"Indra, Gustus, thank you for coming. I know that Anya has already briefed you, so let's head out. I will ride with Indra, and Gustus can ride with Anya."

The three generals silently obey their Commander. Lexa climbs into the front seat, as Indra gets behind the wheel and starts to drive to Lexa's house. As they pull out of the parking garage, with Gustus and Anya right behind them, Lexa breaks the silence.

"Indra, I have something that I want to try, but I need your help…"

* * *

 **AN:** I know it may look bad, but it's going to get better! Next chapter is from Clarke's POV. As always, send a review or a message if you have a question, want to discuss something, or have a correction! I love hearing from you guys :D


	18. Complications

**AN:** Sorry this took so long, but I was busy and then I got sick :( but I have the next few chapters planned out, so hopefully they will be up quickly

* * *

Clarke wakes up on Raven's couch still holding the bottle of tequila. She groans and pushes herself up so she can sit upright on the couch. Rubbing her eyes, she squints at the bright light shining in from the living room window and checks her father's watch, noting that it is already 10 AM. She groans her displeasure at her mild headache, but pushes herself to stand and head into the kitchen. There, she finds Raven cooking breakfast.

"Good morning sunshine." Raven greets Clarke with a smile as she fries eggs in a pan.

Clarke grunts a greeting, and heads to the coffee machine, where she pours herself a cup. Clarke takes a sip and moans in appreciation, turning around to lean against the counter and watch Raven.

Raven glances over her shoulder, sees Clarke facing her, and reaches into a cabinet to grab a bottle. She tosses it over her shoulder, and Clarke catches it with her free hand.

Seeing that it's a bottle of Advil, Clarke screws the lid off and takes two, swallowing them with her coffee. "Thanks." She directs at Raven's back.

Raven chuckles and dishes the eggs onto two waiting plates. "After 4 years of college with you, I know exactly what you need, Clarkey. Now let's go eat breakfast and plan how you're going to get your wife back."

Clarke heads over to a drawer and grabs some silverware for the both of them, then follows Raven to the kitchen table. She sets the table for the two of them and sits down on one side. Raven sets a plate of eggs in front of her, then goes back to grab her own cup of coffee.

Once Raven returns to the table and sits down, she begins to talk around mouthfuls of food. "Ok, so let's review what we know. Tell me everything, again. Last night you were a little… distraught. Start from the beginning."

Clarke finishes chewing her bite of eggs and starts to speak. "Ok, so I went to the address that you pulled off the laptop, and it was Lexa's company. So I rushed back to the Ark and then raced home. She was there, cooking dinner, acting as if nothing was wrong. Then we were eating dinner, and she had all these knives, and there were candles everywhere…"

Raven appears perplexed, and interrupts Clarke. "Whoa, slow down. I'm confused. Knives and candles?"

Clarke takes another bite of her eggs and continues. "It doesn't matter. So I'm pouring us wine, and there were all these candles, and my blouse caught on fire…"

At this, Raven spits out her mouthful of food and starts laughing. "You caught on fire?"

Clarke pouts and glares at Raven. "Rae, you know how much Lexa loves her candles. It's practically a fire hazard!" Raven continues chuckling at the absurdity, so Clarke just continues. " _Anyways,_ I was holding the bottle of wine and spilled it all over myself. So I instinctively start taking off my shirt so I can get the stain out, and Lexa saw the bruise on my chest from where I got hit by that bullet."

"You mean from where _Lexa shot_ you." Raven says as she flourishes her fork to make her point.

"She didn't know it was me! So I see her looking at my bruise, and our eyes met, and Rae, I don't know how she knew, but she _did_. And we just looked at each other for a moment, and then at the same time we both jumped up. By the time I got back from getting a gun, she was already in her car running away."

"Your first instinct was to run and get a _gun_? Geez, Clarke, no wonder why she took off."

"What was I supposed to do, stay there defenseless? She's the fucking _Commander_ , Rae, do you know how many of our people she has killed?"

"Yeah, Clarke, I'm aware. But I'm just saying, are you sure you really want to talk this out? Your first instinct was to run and get a weapon."

"For defense only!" Clarke vehemently defends herself.

Raven holds up her hands in defense. "Whatever. So then what happened?"

"Ok, so I start running after her, so we can talk…"

"While holding a gun." Raven interrupts once again.

"Yes, Rae! It was still in my hands. She doesn't stop the car, so I shoot out the back tire, and she slammed on the brakes and backs up, then tried to run me over. I jumped out of the way and ran in front of her, but… She kept driving, and I was on the roof, so I shot out a back window and jumped in the backseat, but she rolled out of the car. She set the cruise control so I was flying down this hill, and by the time I managed to get into the front seat, get control of the car, and go back to where I last saw her, she was gone. I drove around for a while and went back to the house, but I couldn't find her."

"So you shot at her? _Twice_? And she tried to _run you over_?"

"Rae! I shot out her tire and a window! I wasn't shooting at _her_!"

Raven, now angry, glares back at Clarke. "I'm just trying to help, here! I'm trying to see it from her point of view, Clarke. _You_ were the one with a weapon; _you_ were the one shooting at her, even if it was only her vehicle. Now, I'm not saying you should have acted any differently, I'm just saying that you have a lot to explain to her. Our companies are at war with each other, and you practically attacked her. "

Clarke sits back in her chair tilts her head back to look at the ceiling. "Fuck, you're right." After a moment of silence, she continues. "The worst part is, I think she thinks that I was a spy this whole time, trying to get information from her. She thinks that I _knew_ all along."

Raven reaches across the table to grab Clarke's hand with her own. "Clarke, like I said last night, are you sure she wasn't spying on you? That she thought her cover was blown and was just trying to get away?"

Clarke firmly shakes her head. "No, she wasn't. I know her."

Raven squeezes Clarke's hand, and quietly says, "Do you _really_ know her, though?"

Clarke pulls her hand out from under Raven's and looks away. "I may not know the Commander, but I know Lexa. She wasn't spying on me. I saw the look on her face when she realized that it was me, and she was just as shocked as I was."

Seeing the sadness in her friend, Raven tries to project a positive attitude. "Alright, well we got a lot of ground to cover, so we better get started! First, I want you to go get dressed, feel free to borrow whatever clothes you need. Then, I want you to try calling Lexa, and tell her you want to meet. If she doesn't answer, you will just have to go looking for her."

Clarke gets up from the table and gives Raven a big, long hug. "Thanks for everything, Rae."

Raven smiles and squeezes Clarke back. "Anytime, Clarkey. You know, after all this, I think I should get to be maid-of-honor."

Clarke laughs and shoves Raven off her. "You and O are both my best friends. I let you two figure that one out. I said you could be co-maids-of-honor, but you guys insisted on fighting it out."

Raven slaps Clarke's ass and heads into the kitchen to clean. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now go get yourself dressed so we can find your wife."

* * *

After taking a quick shower and borrowing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from Raven, Clarke heads back downstairs. She had tried calling Lexa, but Lexa's phone went straight to voicemail. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Clarke looks around, trying to find her friend amongst the various shelves and racks of guns, knives, technology, and explosive devices. "Rae?"

"Over here!" Raven calls out, emerging from behind a rack of weapons holding several round objects. Raven motions to her metal workbench, nearly dropping one of her prizes. "I picked you out a handgun, an assault rifle, and a few knives. Oh, and a vest, since it came in handy in that last encounter with your wife. And a figured a few grenades and a smoke bomb couldn't hurt."

Clarke grins at her friend. "Thanks, Rae, but I think I'm good with the handgun and knives. I just want to talk to Lex, not attack a small armed force."

Raven whines "Fiiiine," and goes to put the grenades back. She sets the grenades back on their shelf and gently pats them, cooing "goodbye my preciouses."

Clarke picks up her gun and knives and rolls her eyes. "You're insane, you know that?"

Raven cackles, and starts to make her way up the stairs, only somewhat hindered by her brace. "All the brilliant ones are." She shoots Clarke a wide grin from over her shoulder.

Clarke chuckles at her friend, and follows her up the stairs, through the living room, and into the kitchen.

Raven picks up a set of keys hanging by the back door, and holds them out to Clarke. "I worked on it last night and this morning while you slept in. Lexa's car is all ready to go."

Clarke gives Raven a strong hug. "Thanks, Rae. For everything. I don't know what I would do without you."

Raven pats Clarke on the back and pulls out of the hug. "It was nothing. Now be careful, don't underestimate her. Try not to do any more shooting at each other."

Clarke smiles, and gets into Lexa's car, giving Raven one last wave as she drives off. As Clarke drives to her and Lexa's house, she tries to think of what she is going to say to Lexa. She knows that Lexa loves her, and she loves Lexa, so they should be able to work it out. As long as she can convince Lexa to listen to her long enough for her to explain, everything should be fine. Clarke sighs, and continues to think of the right words that she will need to tell her logical, stoic wife in order to convince her of her innocence, until she pulls onto their street.

Clarke tenses and looks around cautiously as she slowly drives down the street. Taking a deep breath, she pulls into their driveway and puts the car in park. She double checks her weapon and gets out of the car, keeping her gun down and close to her thigh to hide it as much as possible from the neighbors while still having it within easy access. She reaches the back door, and finding it unlocked, slowly turns the knob and enters. She closes the door behind her, and looks around, but freezes in shock when she sees the state of the kitchen. All the drawers and cabinets are open, and have clearly been rifled through.

Clarke walks into the living room, and finds it in a similar state of disarray. She checks the rest of the house, becoming increasingly angry as she finds that not a single room was spared, not even her art room, which she normally allowed no one to enter, not even Lexa. The closet door was left open, and the contents strewn about, but at least her current works remained untouched.

Clarke growls in frustration and runs down the stairs into the basement. She finds the couches moved and the rug pulled up, revealing the trap door she had installed a few weeks after she and Lexa had moved in. She sees that all her security monitoring equipment has been destroyed, and all the recordings removed, except one DVD. She grabs it, and pops it into the player to watch it.

The time stamp on the screen reads from this morning at 7 AM. Clarke watches as four armed, masked figures dressed all in black enter her home and sweep it. Then she watches as they begin tearing apart her house. As she watches, she recognizes the smallest figure as Lexa. A tear rolls down her face as she watches these intruders, as she watches _Lexa_ rip apart the home that they had built these past five years. As they reach the basement, they find the trapdoor holding her recording equipment, and then everything goes black. Clarke sits back onto the couch and holds her head in her hands, trying and failing to hold back tears. Apparently, talking to Lexa was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry it's so angsty, but Clexa IS endgame and it WILL be a happy ending like they deserve!


	19. Burned

As Clarke tried to regain control of her emotions, her phone began to ring. Hoping that it was Lexa, she quickly picked it up. "Hello?"

"Clarke, are you OK? Where are you? Thank God you're alright." Octavia frantically shouts into the phone.

Clarke pulls the phone away from her ear and doesn't return it until the shouting stops. "Octavia, calm down, I'm fine. I'm guessing you talked to Raven?"

Octavia pauses for a moment before speaking. "Talked to Raven? About what?"

At this point, Clarke is thoroughly confused. "O, what are you calling about?"

Octavia sighs. "Clarke, I just talked with Lexa. Well, technically, Lincoln talked to Lexa but… Can you come over? It will be easier to explain in person."

Thoroughly alarmed and confused, Clarke manages to grunt out a "Yes, I will be right over," before running upstairs and jumping into Lexa's car. She speeds the entire way, and luckily doesn't meet any cops. Twenty minutes later, she pulls up outside Octavia's house. Just as she puts her car in park, the door opens and Aurora runs out.

"Clarke! Clarke!" She yells in glee.

Before Aurora can get farther than 10 feet, Octavia runs after her and swoops her into her arms, looking around warily as she hustles her back inside. Upon seeing this, Clarke quickly runs into the house after her friend. As Clarke walks in, she finds Octavia scolding her daughter.

"Aurora, sweetie, what did we say about going outside?"

Aurora pouts and looks down at her feet. "I can't go outside right now. I have to stay in my playroom downstairs and play with my toys."

"Right sweetie. Now go on." Octavia says as she kisses her daughter on the forehead.

Aurora takes off running down the hall, but quickly turns around and runs back to jump into Clarke's arms. "Hi Auntie Clarke. Mommy told me she had to talk to you about grown up things, but can you play with me later?"

Clarke smiles at her niece but puts her down on the ground. "Maybe later, sweetie, OK?" Aurora sticks out her lower lip, and Clarke can't resist. She bends down and whispers into Aurora's ear, "I promise to show you a new wrestling move to surprise your mother with later this week, OK? But you have to let the adults talk right now." Aurora's face lights up and she runs down the hallway to her playroom, giggling in glee. Clarke smiles at the sight and glances at Octavia, who is also smiling at her child. However, upon meeting Clarke's eyes, Octavia's face quickly morphs into a stressed countenance.

"Come on. Lincoln's in the office waiting for us." Without waiting for a reply, Octavia leads the way, with Clarke following silently. When they reach the office, they find Lincoln sitting behind his desk cleaning an assault rifle with his computer screen pulled up.

Startled upon seeing the normally so gentle man at ease with a weapon, Clarke pauses, but continues into the room and takes a seat at Octavia's silent urging. Octavia takes a seat in a chair next to Clarke, both facing Lincoln.

Lincoln sighs, and sets the weapon aside, glancing at the computer screen one more time before turning it to face Octavia. On the screen, Clarke sees several views of the outside of the house. "Can you keep an eye on this for me, O, while I explain to Clarke what happened?"

"Sure babe." Octavia gives Lincoln the hint of a smile, and his tense features lighten for a moment as he returns it, but that fades as he turns to face Clarke.

"So, I'm not really a lawyer…" Lincoln begins.

Clarke snorts and looks pointedly at the rifle on the desk. "No shit."

"And you are not an artist, and Octavia doesn't work as a martial arts instructor at a gym." Lincoln raises an eyebrow, and Clarke shrugs her shoulders in a 'what can you do' way. So, Lincoln continues. "I work for a company called Ton D.C. We take hits, make threats, you know the drill. Octavia told me who you work for and what you do. Your company is known to us as the Skaikru. We do not have a direct, specific fight with you, especially because we specialize in terrain that few of your people are familiar with. However, Ton D.C. is just a small branch of a larger company, known only as the Coalition, ruled by one Commander. Only the generals know the true identity of the Commander, and the Commander has always hidden their identity with a disguise while working. I had no idea who the Commander was, who _you_ were, until this morning, when I got a visit from my boss and…" Lincoln pauses, unsure of how he should continue.

Clarke pierces Lincoln with her gaze. "Tell me everything."

* * *

3 hours earlier…

As she and Indra pull up in front of their target, Lexa hangs up her phone. She had just gotten the results of the background checks on Raven, Octavia, and Abby. While they were all clean, she was still suspicious. Her instincts were telling her that they were involved, so she had asked her people to keep looking.

Lexa sighs, gets out of the car, and follows Indra up the walk to Lincoln's doorstep while Anya and Gustus wait in the other van. She had been to Lincoln and Octavia's house several times before, but this is the first time she will enter his home knowing that he works for her, that she regularly asks the loving father of her sweet niece and nephew to risk his life and kill other people. Lexa wants to cry, but maintains the stoic façade of the Commander.

Indra rings the doorbell, and Octavia answers. "Indra, this is a surprise. And Lexa? What are you doing here?"

Indra's face maintains her determined look. "Is Lincoln home? We have some important business to discuss with him."

Thoroughly confused, Octavia looks between the pair, trying to puzzle out what is going on. Coming up blank, she steps aside to allow the two women inside. "Lincoln! Indra is here; she says she needs to talk to you. And Lexa is here too?"

Lincoln steps out of the kitchen still holding a jar of baby food and a small spoon in his hand. Octavia's confusion is mirrored on his face, but he walks towards them, passing off the items to his wife and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Atom could probably eat a few more bites, and Aurora took off for her playroom as soon as I left the kitchen." Octavia gives Lincoln a loving smile, and heads into the kitchen to take care of her children. "Right this way ladies." Lincoln gestures to his office.

Lexa strides confidently past Lincoln and into his office, taking a seat behind his desk authoritatively. Indra follows, and takes up a standing position behind Lexa's right shoulder. Lincoln closes the door behind him, and pauses when he turns around, but he has no choice but to take a seat in front of his own desk. He sits there quietly, as the two women stare at him intently, until the pressure is too much. "Lexa, Indra, what is going on?"

Lexa leans back in her chair, crossing her right leg over the left, and pulls out her favorite knife, twirling it carefully between her fingers. Alarmed, Lincoln moves to get up, but is stopped by the distinctive click of a safety being removed. Looking up, he meets Indra's cold gaze, backed up by the gun she holds casually in one hand.

Indra breaks the silence, speaking in Trigedasleng. " _You would do well to respect your Heda, and address her properly_."

Eyes widening in shock, Lincoln turns his gaze to Lexa, who addresses him formally. " _Indra has informed me of your faithful service to the Coalition. For this reason, I am giving you the courtesy of a warning. Your wife and her friends are not who they appear to be._ " Lexa pauses to gauge Lincoln's reaction, but his confusion remains. She studies him closely, but finds no evidence that he is feigning this reaction. 'So either Octavia is uninvolved, or he is just as clueless as me.' Lexa thinks to herself. 'Judging Octavia's aggression, and Raven's technological capabilities, I'm assuming the latter.'

Lincoln manages to push through his confusion to stutter out a response. " _Leksa… Heda, I mean… I didn't…_ _Does Clarke know?_ "

Lexa freezes, and the pain of thinking of Clarke washes through her. This morning, she had coldly ripped apart the home they had built together, and now she was ripping apart Clarke's friend's family. She only allows the pain to flare in her eyes for a few seconds, however, before she converts it into anger and slams her knife into the table, point first. " _That does not concern you. What does concern you is that you have been living with the enemy. Octavia is an agent for the Skaikru, the sworn enemy of the Coalition. Bring your family to the penthouse of this address_ ," Lexa tosses a slip of paper onto the table, and continues, " _by 9 tonight. Octavia will be questioned for her knowledge of the Skaikru and Wanheda. If you cooperate, I swear that you, her, and your children will not be harmed._ " Pulling her knife out of the table, Lexa stands up, and, looking down on Lincoln, she lowers her voice. " _You have 12 hours to make your decision_." She moves to leave, with Indra close on her tail, but before she can open the door, Lincoln speaks.

" _What does this have to do with Wanheda?_ "

Indra growls, " _Why don't you ask your wife that."_

As Lexa turns the doorknob, she turns to utter her last threat. " _A kill order for you and your family goes into effect in 12 hours. I hope that by that time you are under my protection, or the entire Coalition will be hunting for you_." Without looking back, Lexa strides quickly from the office and out the front door, closely followed by Indra. The two get in the car, and drive away, as Lincoln sits at in his office stunned and terrified.

* * *

Clarke sits there, processing, as Octavia and Lincoln stare at her intently, waiting for her reaction.

"Clarke…" Octavia begins tentatively. "I know it's a lot to process, and I'm sorry Linc and I didn't call you sooner, but we had to talk. I mean, we both had no idea who the other was, and…" Octavia trails off as tears start to well up in Clarke's eyes at seeing the healthy, mature way her best friend and spouse had handled finding out the other was a deadly, rival assassin. "Hey, sweetie, no, don't cry, it's going to be OK."

As a few tears spill down Clarke's cheeks, she softly says, "All I wanted to do was _talk_ to Lexa. We found out last night about each other, and we fought…"

Octavia rubs Clarke's shoulder soothingly. "Clarke, we are going to find her. I called Raven while you were on the way over, and she told me what happened. Lincoln is going to help as much as he can."

Clarke wipes her tears off her cheeks to give Lincoln a grateful smile. "Thanks, Linc. I know it's a risk for you, and O and the kids."

Lincoln returns her smile. "Clarke, I would never risk bringing my family in. The Commander is ruthless, and she would do whatever it took to protect the Coalition, no matter what promises she has made." Lincoln winces when he realizes what he has said and gives Clarke an apologetic look.

Clarke ignores it, however, and ploughs on, determined to find Lexa and sort this out. "So, do you know where we can find her?"

Lincoln glances at Octavia for confirmation, and then holds up the slip of paper that Lexa had handed him a few hours ago. Clarke snatches it from his hands and reads it, while Octavia pulls up something on the computer.

"The building is currently under construction, but the penthouse is completed. Here's a map of the surrounding area. Clarke, I wish I could come with you to help, but…"

Clarke quickly interrupts Octavia. "No, O, this is my problem. You need to stay and get ready to get you and the kids to safety, just in case. You have already done enough." Clarke stands up, determined to finish this before the situation can get any worse, and heads towards the door.

Octavia and Lincoln hurry to catch up to Clarke before she can leave. Before Clarke can make it out the door, Octavia grabs Clarke's arm and pulls her in to give her a strong hug. "Take care of yourself, Clarke." Octavia whispers in her ear. Clarke gives Octavia a hard squeeze in return, and pulls out of the hug.

"You know I will." Clarke turns to Lincoln and embraces him briefly, before turning and striding confidently out the door. However, after only a few feet, she turns back to look at Lincoln. "What does _Wanheda_ mean?"

Lincoln swallows and looks down at the ground, but when he brings his gaze back up to meet Clarke's, she is still staring at him expectantly. "It means…" He sighs, and in a soft tone, tells her, "Commander of Death."

Clarke flinches, but without another word, turns and heads towards Lexa's car, getting in and driving off without looking back.

* * *

 **AN:** Surprise! Quick update! I was inspired :D Next chapter will have what everyone has been anxiously waiting for: Clexa interaction! It is an extremely important chapter, however, so it will take some time to finish and won't come as quick as this last update.


	20. Head Over Heart

**AN:** It rained all day so I got this out quickly for you guys! Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Lexa sits in front of a bank of monitoring computers, appearing to wait patiently as she watches the screens intently. The only movement that displays her restlessness is the constant twirling of her knife between her hands.

Lexa hears Anya sigh, then finds her knife snatched away as she was tossing it from one hand to the other. She looks up to glare at her former First, but finds a plate of pizza shoved in her face instead.

"Eat." Anya grunts at her, taking the seat to Lexa's right.

On her left, Indra snorts her amusement, and bites into her own slice of pizza. Lexa glares at Indra, but her fierceness is ruined by Gustus patting her on the head as he walks by to sit next to Anya.

Lexa huffs, and turns back to her own plate of food. Although she is _Heda_ , these are her most trusted Generals and also some of her closest friends, and only they could get away with such treatment of her.

After a few moments of eating in silence, Gustus speaks up. "So, how do you know she will come?"

Lexa finishes chewing before she answers. "Octavia is best friends with Clarke; she probably called Clarke as soon as she found out from Lincoln. By now, I'm sure Clarke is on her way. She wouldn't wait and put her friends in any more danger than they already are."

"How do you know Lincoln told Octavia? What if he just plans on running?" Anya asks.

Indra snorts and says, "He told her. They don't keep anything from each other."

At this, Lexa goes quiet, and, sensing her sudden change in mood, the rest follow suit, finishing their lunch in silence.

When she's done eating, Lexa gets up, throws her plate away, and goes to stare out the window, deep in thought. Behind her back, Anya shoots Indra an angry glare, and Indra shrugs her shoulders in apology. Lexa can hear them arguing in whispers, but chooses to ignore them. Instead, she allows herself to think of Clarke, and their past 6 years together, knowing that soon she will most likely irreparably damage their relationship. If by some small chance Lincoln does show up, she will have no choice but to aggressively question him and Octavia, then go hunting for Clarke and go to war against the Skaikru. Hopefully, Clarke will show up as she plans, and then she will be able to question her directly before making any moves. Either way, she is dreading what she might have to do to the woman she loves in the next few hours in order to protect the thousands of her people. She will have to be _Heda_ soon enough, but for now, she just needs to be _Lexa_. She lets her shoulders sag in sorrow, and she allows herself to wallow in her emotions for the next few hours as she gazes out the 6 inch thick bulletproof glass, waiting for Clarke.

* * *

A few hours later…

Lexa is still standing at the window when she hears Anya call for her. Immediately, Lexa morphs her face into the professional mask of _Heda_ , and walks briskly over to the monitoring screens. She remains standing, with her hands on the back of her chair in front of her. On the top left screen, she sees Clarke walking through the construction yard, calmly, as if she belongs there. Clarke grabs a hard hat off the back of a truck and a pair of plans, striding casually towards the building, looking as if she's just another architect checking on the progress of the building.

The four watch as Clarke makes her way across the yard and into the ground floor of the building. The lobby is still unfinished, but the shiny silver elevators are installed, although they still have thick clear plastic on their doors to protect them from the ongoing construction. Lexa tenses, as Clarke presses the button for the elevator and after a few moments, gets inside. Gustus presses some buttons so the largest, center screen now displays Clarke, and they watch in silence as the elevator moves up. When the elevator is 25 floors up - five floors below where they are currently sitting - Gustus presses the button to stop the elevator.

Clarke sways as the elevator abruptly jolts to a stop and tries to press a few buttons. When nothing happens, she looks around, finding the security camera in the top corner. She stares at it, clearly waiting for someone to speak to her.

Lexa takes a deep breath and holds out her hand for the microphone, which Anya gives to her. "Hello, Clarke."

Clarke takes a shuddering breath and looks down at the floor. After a few seconds, she returns her relieved gaze to the camera. "Lex, I have been looking everywhere for you. We really need to talk."

"Will this be the type of _talk_ we had last night, where you chase after me with a gun?"

"Lexa, no, you don't understand." Clarke pleads.

Lexa cuts Clarke off. "No, what you don't understand, is that right now you're trapped in a steel box, hanging 25 floors over nothin' but air. It's time for you to explain yourself, _Wanheda_."

Clarke stares into the camera for a moment, her blue eyes shiny with emotion. When she sees that she won't get any more, she begins to speak. "Lex…" Clarke sighs, but continues. "I swear, I didn't know who you were. Not until yesterday, when I recovered your address from your computer. I just grabbed a weapon to protect myself; I didn't know how you would react. I would have explained this last night, but you ran away. I didn't know you were the Commander, and I wasn't spying on you. I _love_ you."

Lexa flinches upon hearing her title come from her wife's mouth, but takes time to process what Clarke has just told her. After a moment, she quietly tells her, "I know you do. I love you too. And I believe you."

Clarke smiles in relief and nearly starts crying with joy. "Well then, let me go, and I can go back to Arkadia, and talk to the Council, and we can draw up a treaty, and…"

Lexa cuts Clarke off, her voice hard. "Why were you targeting Cage Wallace?"

Confused, Clarke scrunches her brows for a moment, and her smile disappears. "I… The company sent me on a job, to make sure he made it safely to his rondevue point."

"Were you aware that he was carrying information about my real identity?" Lexa coldly asks.

"What? No! I mean…" Clarke hesitates, but decides it's best to be completely honest. "They told me he had information on the Coalition, but that was it."

Lexa swallows hard, and then speaks. "So, you kill hundreds of my warriors, go on a mission to help my enemy, and you want me to _let you go_? To make _peace_ with your company?"

Lexa watches as Clarke's mouth gapes open. She opens and closes it a few times, completely flabbergasted. "Lexa, your people have been attacking us. You can't expect us to not retaliate. But we don't have to fight anymore. We are already on that path! I saved one of your generals' lives a few weeks ago. Did you talk to her?"

Lexa turns her gaze to Anya, who looks guilty. Lexa had never been more relieved than when Anya, whom she had believed dead, had been found alive, excluding the night she had proposed to Clarke and gotten a yes. However, she cannot let the sparing of one life, no matter how special to her, outweigh the hundreds of her people whom had been murdered in a fiery explosion weeks previously. "I thank you for that, but one act of good does not erase the past."

Clarke stares pleadingly at the camera. "Lexa, I have been trying to convince the Council to make peace for months. You and me, we can end the fighting between our companies, and together, we can put an end to our real enemy: the Mountainmen."

Lexa stares at Clarke's passionate face, and tries to muster her strength. "I believe you, Clarke, but your Council has not contacted us. Clearly, they have no desire to make peace. And one person will not make me overlook the deeds an entire group of people." Lexa pauses, trying to master her emotions. She refuses to allow her voice to waver. "I'm sorry, Clarke, but I have to make this choice with my head, and not my heart. _Wanheda_ is too dangerous for me to allow her to live. She is extremely valuable to the Skaikru, and now she knows too much about the _Heda_. The duty to protect my people comes first."

Clarke stares at the camera, mouth wide in shock with a tear rolling down her face. "So that's it then? The past five years mean nothing to you? _I_ mean nothing to you?"

Lexa bites her lip to stop it from trembling. She tries to speak, but her voice cracks, so she takes a deep shuddering breath, before telling Clarke, "May we meet again."

Lexa tears her gaze away from Clarke's devastated face to look at Indra. Lexa nods at her, and Indra hesitates, but presses the button when Lexa does not look away from her. The four hear a muffled explosion from below, and the camera goes black. Lexa turns away from the monitors and walks quickly, almost running, to the window. The building shakes and there is a muffled explosion from below as the elevator crashes into the ground. Lexa can see clouds of dust and debris hanging in the air, and frightened workers scurrying around. Lexa hangs her head and braces herself against the window with both hands as a tear rolls down her face, but she swallows down her despair.

Without turning around, Lexa barks orders to her 3 generals. "Send out a message. -I call upon the armies of the 12 Clans. _Wanheda_ is dead. We attack the _Skaikru_ in 3 days.- Anya, I need you to watch Raven. Record any visitors and calls. When she leaves her house, capture her and bring her to Polis for questioning. The same goes for you, Gustus, with Abby Griffin, and for you Indra, with Octavia and Lincoln. Call Ryder so you have help, Indra."

Lexa hears people get out of their chairs, switch off the monitors, and leave. Although her back is turned, she still senses another presence in the room. She knows who it is; Anya is the only one who would stay when she's like this. She hears quiet footsteps in her direction, but they stop still several feet away.

"Lex…" Anya says quietly, barely above a whisper.

Lexa turns to face her friend, face devoid of all emotion except for the lone tear trail. "Go, Anya. I'm fine."

Anya clearly doesn't believe her, but she has no other choice but to leave. She pauses with her hand on the door, and turns her head to look at Lexa one last time, but Lexa only nods at her. Anya sighs, but there is nothing she can say or do to relieve this pain for Lexa, so she leaves.

As soon as the door closes behind Anya, Lexa crumples to the floor. Sobs wrack her body as she curls into a ball and cries. Lexa sobs so hard that she feels physical pain, but that is nothing to the pain she feels knowing that Clarke is gone forever. Hours later, when her sobs have turned to dry heaves from running out of tears, Lexa shakily forces her stiff body up from the hard, cold floor. Taking a deep breath, she forces all emotion from her body, and heads for the elevator. Unable to bring herself to return home, where Clarke's presence will be too strong, she hails a taxi for Polis Tower, where she can hide behind _Heda_. In Polis of all places, her orders would be followed and no one would disturb her, not even Anya.

* * *

 **AN:** Please don't hate me! I'm following the movie. I have a plan, it's going to be fine! I know it's a cliffhanger, but SPOILER ALERT there's around 12 chapters left... So think that one through ;) Send me a message or review if you like it, hate it, etc.


	21. Shattered Glass

**AN:** Warning for a death, but nothing worse than the show.

* * *

As the elevator descends to the ground floor, Anya slumps against the wall. She's not physically exhausted, but she is emotionally tired. Lexa is going to be the death of her. This is like Costia all over again, except this time Lexa actually killed her lover. While Lexa still felt responsible for Costia's death, she didn't have to look into her eyes right before she died.

Anya remembers getting the call from Lexa after Costia's head was delivered to her bed. It had been late at night, and Lexa's call had woke her up, but Lexa hadn't said a word, no matter how much Anya had yelled at her over the phone. In a panic, thinking that her Second, no, not anymore, the new _Heda,_ had been murdered, she had jumped into her car in her pajamas, and raced over to Lexa's as fast as she could. When she had gotten there, she had found Lexa standing at the foot of her bed, phone fallen to the floor. Anya had run up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around and checking her over for injuries. She had sighed in relief, and started to get angry, until she had looked at Lexa's face. Anya was shocked at the pain she had seen in those green, 18-year-old eyes. When Anya had seen Costia's severed head, propped upright against the pillows with open, accusing eyes, she had been just as shocked as Lexa.

As the elevator doors open, Anya steps out, and walks towards her car. Anya tries to kid herself, but when she gets to her car, she sits in the driver's seat and leans her head against the wheel, taking deep shakey breaths. No matter how hard she tried or how well she trained them, she couldn't protect her seconds. Tris had been killed by an explosion several months ago, and now Lexa was suffering great emotional pain for a second time. On the day they had found Costia, Anya had thought she had never seen Lexa so broken, until today. Lexa had cried in her arms for hours, and was completely inconsolable. For days, Lexa had refused to speak, had refused to make a sound, except for the sound of her crying. After a week, Lexa had emerged from her bedroom changed. She didn't retaliate against the Ice Queen, and instead started fighting to unite the Clans. It took her several long, hard years, but finally, she had been able to form the Coalition, barely a year after she had married Clarke. Lexa had only dated Costia for a year, and she had loved her, but she had spent the past 6 years loving Clarke. If Lexa reacted that way to Costia's death, how would Clarke's death hit her?

"Fuck." Anya yells and hits the steering wheel in anger. Normally, she never lets things get to her, but this is Lexa, the girl she had practically raised. After a few moments, she pulls herself together to start the drive to Raven's house. Although Lexa wasn't crying over Clarke like she had over Costia, her apparent calm was infinitely worse. Lexa would blame herself, more so than she did with Costia, and torture herself until she snapped. Until then, Lexa would try to lose herself in her work as _Heda_ , but that would only work for so long. Little did Anya know how short that time would be…

* * *

Lexa stepped out of the cab in front of Polis Tower, and forced herself to walk inside. She forced herself to walk into the building that epitomized her duty, which had forced her into this tragedy. Knowing that she still mustn't show weakness, she holds her head high, although she knows that if someone were to look closely, she would be unable to hide her emotions as she usually does.

Fortunately, she makes it to her office without having to interact with anyone. As soon as she closes the door, she allows her perfect posture to fall and she slowly staggers to her desk. Taking a seat in her leather chair, she opens up a drawer and pulls out a bottle of whiskey. After prying the lid off, she quickly decides not to waste time with a glass and starts drinking straight from the bottle, reveling in the burn it causes her.

Lexa sets the bottle down on her desk roughly, and brings her other hand to rub her eyes, trying to hold in her tears. She looks up for a moment and catches sight of a photo sitting on her desk of her and Clarke from their honeymoon. Tears start to fall and a sob catches in her throat, which she drowns with more whiskey. Lexa drinks until the bottle is half gone, yet still it is not enough to even begin to numb the pain and self-loathing she is feeling.

A knock at the door breaks through her fog of whiskey and pain, and she quickly sits up in her chair, hiding the bottle back in her desk once again. "Enter," she calls out in a low voice, trying to remain unaffected.

Titus walks in, bows, and then addresses Lexa after she nods in acknowledgement. "The Ambassadors have asked to speak with you regarding your message. They are waiting for you in the board room."

Lexa's face remains impassive, but her normally controlled emotions are still swirling inside of her. "Very well, but for the rest of today, I am not to be disturbed Titus, no matter what."

Titus nods his head in affirmation, then holds the door as Lexa walks past him to the meeting room. When she enters the boardroom, every ambassador is looking at her with a mixture of awe and anticipation, all except the Ice Nation Ambassador. Lexa takes her seat and glances around at the 12 ambassadors, waiting for one to speak up.

After a moment, a kind looking man from the Boat People breaks the silence. "So, is it true, _Heda_? _Wanheda_ has been killed, and we are finally going to avenge our fallen comrades?"

Lexa nods her head once, not trusting herself to speak. However, that is unnecessary, as the ambassadors all break out into excited babble.

"How did _Wanheda_ die?"

"What are the anticipated casualties for the upcoming war?"

"How many of my warriors will be needed?"

"Will be attacking their headquarters first?"

Lexa allows them to chatter for another moment, before holding up her hand for silence. Just as she is about to speak, the Ice Nation Ambassador stands up from his chair and begins a slow clap. Everyone turns their attention to him, and Lexa, clenches her jaw in anger, but allows him to speak despite the blatant disrespect.

"You finally killed _Wanheda_ , congratulations. You have been stuck up in this tower for too long, too afraid to take her on. And now that she is gone, you have finally gotten over your fear of battle, and are going to war with the Skaikru." The man mocks.

Lexa glowers at him, before replying. "You will do well to respect your _Heda_ , and remember that most of the Clans did not come into the Coalition peacefully, including yours."

The slimy looking man grins at her with an arrogant smirk, and then proceeds to turn his back on her to stare out the window at the view. The silence and tension is palpable in the room. "How many people have been lost to the Skaikru these past few years? And how long did it take you to finally declare war on them? If you do not want to wage this war, Azgeda will happily step in and take control for you."

All of the other ambassadors, completely shocked, remain frozen. Slowly, Lexa stands up, and calmly walks up behind the ambassador. She looks at him, with the regal façade of the Commander, and tells him, "Thank you for your consideration. I have a message for Queen Nia."

The man turns, and gives Lexa a cocky, pleased grin. "I will happily deliver it, _Heda_."

Suddenly, Lexa turns and grabs the ambassador's empty chair, hurling it against the glass and shattering the window. Everyone is frozen, including the Ice Nation Ambassador. Lexa turns her angry snarl, on him, and without warning, kicks him, sending him flying out of Polis Tower and down to the street below. Lexa watches him fall with satisfaction, and gives a pleased nod as she sees him hit the ground. Turning around, she faces the rest of the ambassadors.

"Would anyone else care to question my decisions?" Lexa asks them, nothing other than coldness in her voice. She makes eye contact with each one, staring them down, until every ambassador has shrunk into their seat as far as they can. Softly, barely audible, she tells them, "Good. Dismissed."

Lexa stares out of the hole in the side of her building, letting the winds blow past her as her ambassadors all but run from the room. After she hears the last one leave, she turns around to head back to her office. As she passes Echo, she pauses momentarily to give her instructions. "Call Titus immediately, tell him to inform PR that we have had a tragic accident. 'One of our managers has cracked and jumped off the Tower during a meeting. We ask for privacy in this matter, as we are all suffering the loss of one our colleagues.' Or something along those lines. Titus can handle it, direct all my calls to him, I am not to be disturbed for any reason."

Without waiting for confirmation, Lexa heads back to her office and shuts the door, this time locking it behind her. At a complete loss, she stands in the middle of her office, dazed. As she starts twisting her gold wedding ring absentmindedly, she freezes. Suddenly, she knows where she wants to go.

Lexa quickly discards her clothing and steps into the shower, wincing as the warm water hits her various scrapes and bruises. Lexa cleans herself, then gently runs her fingers of her right hand over the stitches on her left shoulder from where she had scraped herself running from the explosion caused by Clarke's rocket launcher. Next, she runs her fingers over the bruise on her hip from when she jumped out of a moving car to escape Clarke again.

The next thing she knows, Lexa is once again in the fetal position, this time on the floor of the shower, sobbing. All she had done the past year is run and push Clarke away, and now she was gone. Lexa cries until the water streaming over her goes cold, then she forces herself to get up. Wrapping a towel around herself, she heads into her office to get dressed, deciding on a simple black dress and heels. She blow dries her curly hair into smooth waves, and applies ample eyeliner.

Looking in the mirror, Lexa cannot find any traces of the young, naïve girl who had loved Costia. She can't even find any trace of the woman who had deeply loved Clarke, just the broken aftermath. Her position as _Heda_ had once again killed a woman she loved, and this time, it would be the last she ever did.

* * *

 **AN:** Well this was difficult to write... Next chapter we get back to the fun and games, I promise!


	22. A Surprise Guest

**AN:** Sorry for the wait on this one, life has been crazy and wifi has sucked!

* * *

Lexa brings the glass of red wine to her lips, and takes a long slow sip, savoring the flavor. She sets her now empty glass down, and runs her index finger around the rim as she thinks. Six years ago when she had asked Clarke to marry her in this restaurant, she was sure that she was going to be the happiest woman alive. Now, she was sure that she would never be happy again.

Lexa closes her eyes and drops her head to look down at the table, refusing to cry in public. She senses someone walk up behind her, and, thinking that it is the waiter, she raises her glass for him to refill it. The waiter grabs the glass over her hand, to keep it steady, as he pours her another glass. As soon as she feels that familiar touch on her skin, however, her eyes shoot open and her head shoots up in unbelieving shock.

Before Lexa can turn her head, her hand is released and someone walks into her line of sight, taking a seat across from Lexa as she sits there frozen, mouth agape. Lexa is completely frozen as she stares at Clarke, who calmly and gracefully pulls her dress up so that she can sit in the chair across from Lexa, smirking at the look of complete shock on Lexa's face.

* * *

Earlier that afternoon…

Clarke knew Lexa, and she knew that she was walking into a trap. Everything that Lexa did was deliberate, and threatening a low-level agent who happened to be her friend was a deliberate action intended to draw her out. Still, she had no other choice but to go to the building; it was the only way she would get to talk to Lexa.

When she arrived, she made sure to keep an eye out for cameras, so that she could avoid them as much as possible and keep her face hidden from them. She was wearing jeans, a flannel, work boots, and a hard hat with her distinctive blonde hair pulled up underneath it. She grabbed a piece of wood and started walking towards the building, using the wood to hide her face from the cameras.

When she got inside, she set down the board and picked up a drill, holding it on her shoulder to still keep her face hidden. She noticed that there were stairs, but there was no way she would make it up all 30 flights of stairs without alerting them to her presence. That meant she would have to take the elevators, but she didn't trust those. Sighing in defeat, she starts up the stairs. She makes it up 20 stairs until all signs of construction stop. Knowing that she can't go any higher without causing suspicion, she opens the door and walks through the empty floor. The windows still haven't been put up on this floor yet, so Clarke sets the drill down when she reaches the edge of the floor and reaches around to grab onto the steel beam running up the outside of the building.

As Clarke begins her ascent up the side of the building, she wonders how Lexa was able to have the penthouse entirely finished while the rest of the building was still mostly a skeleton. The Coalition must have more power and money than she thought. Sighing, she begins to climb faster, knowing that if someone sees her, she will have a problem.

Finally, after struggling to get up the smooth, finished walls of the penthouse, Clarke reaches the top of the building. She takes a moment to catch her breath and stare out at the city. 'No wonder Lex always chooses the penthouse.' She thinks to herself as she looks at the view from the top of the building. Little does she know, Lexa is looking out a window only one floor below her, staring at the same exact view.

After another moment, Clarke walks over to the elevator shaft, pries the door open, and takes a look inside. She sees several wires attached to what appears to be explosives. Groaning, she pulls out her phone to call Raven.

"Hey Raven, I need your help."

"Sure thing, Clarkey, what's up?" Raven replies with a laugh.

"I told you not to call me Clarkey!" Clarke growls in reply.

Ignoring Clarke's comment, Raven continues with her questions. "So, how's hunting down the wife going? Not literally, of course. You know what I mean. Octavia called me, have you reached the site yet? How are you holding up? What are you…"

Knowing that Raven could go on forever with her questions, Clarke quickly interrupts her. "Rae, look, I'm standing on top of the building where Lexa is, looking at the elevator rigged with explosives. I just need you tell me how to disarm them."

"So it's not going as well as you hoped then."

"Raven…" Clarke says warningly.

"OK, OK, just send me a picture so I can see what we're dealing with.

Clarke pulls out her phone and quickly takes a picture and sends it to Raven. She tries to wait patiently to give Raven time to look at it, but after only two minutes she breaks the silence. "Well? How do I disarm it?"

Raven sighs and replies sadly. "You can't, Clarke. Not without letting them know. Either you blow the bomb and it drops the elevator, or you disarm it safely, but they get notified. Whoever set this one up was thinking of everything. Each bomb is completely separate from the other, so you can't touch either of them. Damn, whoever set this up is almost as good as me."

Clarke groans and bangs her head against the wall. There has to be another way. While she does trust Lexa, she doesn't trust the Commander, and there's no way she's getting in that elevator without disarming the bombs. While listening to Raven mumble about how beautiful the bomb is, she gets an idea. "Wait, you said that each bomb is separate, right? There are two elevators and two bombs?"

"Yeeeees…" Raven drags out, waiting to see where Clarke is going with this.

"So you could blow one bomb, without blowing the other? The elevators have to have monitoring equipment in them both, right? So if I switch the cameras in the elevators, they will think I'm in one, when really I'm in the other?"

Excited, Raven shouts, "Brilliant! Then, when you come back, it won't matter which elevator you get in because the cameras will be switched, and they will only blow up one. Hopefully… Just give me a minute to find the wires for the cameras." Raven looks over the picture Clarke had sent her before and starts talking Clarke through how to switch the wires on the elevator cameras and the override controls, so that if they stop her elevator they stop the one she is actually in and not the one she is pretending to be in. She also does some rewiring so that both cameras will go dark if the other elevator is blown up. Their plan wouldn't work if things went wrong, the elevator was blown up, and someone could still see something in the camera.

When she finishes talking Clarke through everything, Raven softens her tone. "Good luck, Princess."

"Thank you Raven." Clarke tells her friend as she goes to the edge of the roof and climbs gracefully down the side of the building. She reaches the 20th floor again, and makes her way down the stairs and off the construction site, once again avoiding the cameras. When she gets to Lexa's car, she takes off her flannel shirt and heavy boots, leaving her in just her T-shirt and jeans. She slips on her converse and ties the laces before quickly checking that her hair doesn't look too crazy from climbing the building. She grabs two guns and sticks them in her waistband at the small of her back. Satisfied, she heads for the construction site again, this time with the excitement and the nerves that she is going to finally get to talk to Lexa.

When Clarke reaches the entrance, she walks past with her head held high and no hesitation. She knows the key to blending in is to act naturally, so she grabs a hard hat and some blueprints. As she makes her way towards the building, she makes sure to look around, ensuring that her face should show up on a few cameras. When she gets to the elevators, she presses the button and waits for it to arrive. When the elevator arrives and she gets on, she steps inside and patiently waits, trying to hide her excitement.

Suddenly, the elevator stops, jolting her somewhat. She knows that she isn't at the top of the building yet, so she presses a few buttons, hoping that the elevator will continue, but after a few seconds gives up, and just stares straight at the camera, waiting for someone to speak to her. After a moment, she hears the voice of the woman she had been searching for.

"Hello, Clarke."

Clarke takes a shuddering breath and looks down at the floor. After a few seconds, she returns her relieved gaze to the camera, wishing that she could see Lexa's face, her wild brown hair, her _eyes_. Clarke could always tell how Lexa was feeling just from her eyes. "Lex, I have been looking everywhere for you. We really need to talk."

"Will this be the type of _talk_ we had last night, where you chase after me with a gun?" Clarke hears Lexa coldly say.

"Lexa, no, you don't understand." Clarke pleads. She has to make Lexa understand, has to explain herself, but Lexa cuts her off.

"No, what you don't understand, is that right now you're trapped in a steel box, hanging 25 floors over nothin' but air. It's time for you to explain yourself, _Wanheda_."

Clarke nearly flinches at hearing that title come from Lexa's mouth, knowing what it means, but she restrains herself. Instead, she stares into the camera for a moment, her blue eyes shiny with emotion, hoping that Lexa can see her sincerity. When she sees that she won't get any more from her wife, she begins to speak. "Lex…" Clarke sighs, but continues. "I swear, I didn't know who you were. Not until yesterday, when I recovered your address from your computer. I just grabbed a weapon to protect myself; I didn't know how you would react. I would have explained this last night, but you ran away. I didn't know you were the Commander, and I wasn't spying on you. I _love_ you." Clarke hopes that Lexa believes her, and for a moment, she thinks that Lexa doesn't, until Lexa finally breaks the silence.

"I know you do. I love you too. And I believe you."

Clarke smiles in relief and nearly starts crying with joy. Lexa and she are going to be all right, and they can stop this war between their companies. "Well then, let me go, and I can go back to Arkadia, and talk to the Council, and we can draw up a treaty, and…"

Clarke gets cut off. Lexa's voice is hard, something she has never used when speaking to Clarke before. This must be her Commander voice. "Why were you targeting Cage Wallace?"

Confused, Clarke scrunches her brows for a moment, and her smile disappears. "I… The company sent me on a job, to make sure he made it safely to his rondevue point."

"Were you aware that he was carrying information about my real identity?"

Surprised at the interrogation, she shouts, "What? No! I mean…" Clarke hesitates, but decides it's best to be completely honest. "They told me he had information on the Coalition, but that was it." Clarke wishes she could see Lexa's face, to see how she is reacting.

"So, you kill hundreds of my warriors, go on a mission to help my enemy, and you want me to _let you go_? To make _peace_ with your company?"

Clarke's mouth gapes open. She opens and closes it a few times, completely flabbergasted. Of all the ways she had thought her reunion with Lexa would go, this was one she had hardly considered. "Lexa, your people have been attacking us. You can't expect us to not retaliate. But we don't have to fight anymore. We are already on that path! I saved one of your generals' lives a few weeks ago. Did you talk to her?" Clarke hadn't been able to see the face of the general, but she knew that she was important.

After a moment, Lexa's voice sounds through the elevator again. "I thank you for that, but one act of good does not erase the past."

Clarke stares pleadingly at the camera, hoping that she can get through to her wife. "Lexa, I have been trying to convince the Council to make peace for months. You and me, we can end the fighting between our companies, and together, we can put an end to our real enemy: the Mountainmen."

"I believe you, Clarke, but your Council has not contacted us. Clearly, they have no desire to make peace. And one person will not make me overlook the deeds an entire group of people." Lexa pauses, and Clarke dreads what is coming next. "I'm sorry, Clarke, but I have to make this choice with my head, and not my heart. _Wanheda_ is too dangerous for me to allow her to live. She is extremely valuable to the Skaikru, and now she knows too much about the _Heda_. The duty to protect my people comes first."

Clarke stares at the camera, mouth wide in shock with a tear rolling down her face. "So that's it then? The past five years mean nothing to you? _I_ mean nothing to you?" She doesn't understand; she loves Lexa, and Lexa loves her. How could Lexa do this to her? To _them_?

"May we meet again."

That was the last thing that Clarke heard before the elevator goes silent. She looks at the camera, trying to think of something to say, but she has no more words, nothing more to say to convince Lexa to save their relationship.

After a moment, Clarke hears an explosion, as the elevator next to her starts falling towards the Earth. Knowing that she is no longer visible on the cameras, she bows her head, tears falling freely down her face. As the building shakes from the force of the elevator hitting the ground below her, she wipes the tears from her face and uses the railing on the side of the elevator to climb up to the emergency exit on the roof of the elevator. She hoists herself up and closes the exit door on the top of the elevator, then climbs up the cable until the next floor.

Clarke pries the elevator doors open, and steps out onto another unfinished floor. She walks to the edge of the floor, and pulling out one of her guns, she aims for the top of the building right across from her. A cable shoots out from her gun and lands on the edge of the building's roof. Looking down, she sees a cloud of dust and debris hanging in the air around the base of the building she was standing on. She disregards it and locks her gun to a steel beam and slides across the gap between the buildings, landing safely on the roof seconds later. She breaks the cable off from the building, and it shoots back into the gun. Running across the roof, Clarke reaches the door and starts descending the stairwell. Halfway down, she stops, and, leaning against the wall, she sinks to the floor and puts her head on her knees, unable to stop the tears anymore. Clarke knows that this isn't the place for this, but her wife, the woman she was in love with, had just tried to _kill_ her. _Deliberately_. She couldn't hold in her pain any longer. Clarke isn't sure how long she sits crying on the floor of the stairwell for, but she is finally broken out of her emotional pain by the ringing of her phone.

"Hello?" She croaks out, her voice shakey and thick with her tears.

"Clarke? What's wrong? What happened?" Octavia half yells at her.

Clarke tries to speak, but trying to verbalize what happened only makes her start crying again.

Octavia uses her soothing mother voice. "Clarke, sweetie, tell me where you are. I will come get you."

Clarke shakes her head, but realizes that Octavia can't see her. She manages to pull herself together enough to choke out. "No, O, you and Lincoln need to get the kids out of here. Get them to safety. Warn my mom and Raven for me, will you? I'm…" Clarke takes a deep breath to stop her voice from shaking. "I'm going to the Dropship to pick up some supplies. Lexa…" Clarke can barely say Lexa's name without feeling like she is being betrayed all over again. She pushes back her pain at Lexa's betrayal, and turns it into anger. That's the only way she's going to be able to do what has to be done. "I have to end this. Soon. Before anyone else suffers for this."

"Clarke…" Octavia starts, but doesn't know how to finish.

"It's her or me, O. You know the rules. If… if I don't make it, tell Raven and my mom that I love them. And Bellamy, Lincoln, Atom, and Aurora." Clarke takes a deep breath. "I love you, O. May we meet again."

Octavia starts yelling at Clarke through the phone, but Clarke ignores her and hangs up. Her phone immediately starts ringing, but Clarke turns it off and stands up. Fortifying herself, she starts running down the stairs again. When she makes it to the bottom, she strides confidently and powerfully through the ground floor and out the doors, straight to Lexa's car. Without a second thought, she gets in and starts driving.

When Clarke reaches the Dropship an hour later, she quickly walks inside, heading straight for the armory. She grabs several different types of guns, knives, and explosives, shoving them in a bag before heading upstairs. She makes it to her office, this one much smaller than at Arkadia, but still large enough to have a closet. She starts rifling through it for some clothes. Unable to find anything to her liking, she grabs some underwear and heads into the community showers. She locks the door behind her and turns the water on as hot as it will go.

Clarke steps under the spray of the showers, letting the scalding water turn her pale skin a bright, angry red. Clarke washes her hair, and then starts rubbing soap on her body. As she runs the soap between her breasts, she winces as she presses too hard on the dark bruise from when Lexa had shot her. Clarke takes a ragged breath and drops the soap, clutching her hands to her chest, her bruise hiding the place she hurts the most: her heart.

Clarke slowly sinks to her knees and falls to the floor, sobbing silently. Because of her work, she had lost the woman she loved. Lexa was gone; all that was left was the Commander. Rules stated that she had 48 hours to take out anyone who had identified her, but she would also take out the Commander for her people. They were losing the war and needed all the help she could get. Clarke pulls herself up and rinses the rest of the soap from her body, then steps out of the shower to dry herself off.

Clarke puts on her underwear and wraps her hair in a towel, knowing that no one else will be around. She walks to Octavia's office and looks through her closet, trying to find a dress. Striking out, she next heads for Raven's closet. Luckily, she finds a red dress that she likes, and puts it on. It's a little tight, but she knows that the hidden compartments for knives make up for that. She blow dries her hair curly and slips on a pair of black heels. She grabs her purse, sticking a gun in it, and walks out the door, heading for Lexa's car again. Turning on the radio, Clarke hears the news come on. Of course Lexa listened to the news on her way home. This evening, the top story is about an executive of Polis Legal Services who had jumped from the top floor of the tower. Clarke wrinkles her brow, thinking that it sounds fishy, but decides to switch the station and not think about anything related to Lexa anymore than she has to.

Clarke steps on the gas, driving quickly towards her destination. After being married to her for 5 years, Clarke knows exactly where Lexa is, exactly where she has chosen to torture herself, and she's going to show up and give her wife a lovely surprise.

* * *

 **AN:** I know I said this chapter would be reunion, but people wanted to see Clarke's POV and it became important to the next few chapters to show her mindset. Next chapter they WILL reunite, and things will start getting actiony again.


	23. Black Eyes and Goodbyes

Octavia hadn't heard from Clarke since she had left her house an hour ago to confront Lexa. Raven had called her saying that Clarke was going in, but neither one had heard from Clarke since then. Her pacing is halted as warm, strong arms are wrapped around her from behind.

"Why don't you call her?" Lincoln says, as he nuzzles his nose into his wife's neck.

"I want to but…"

Lincoln tightens his arms at his wife's hesitation and whispers, "You're scared she isn't going to answer, aren't you?"

Octavia sinks back into Lincoln as a tear rolls down her face, which she angrily wipes away. "Clarke is the best! But the stories I have heard about the Commander… I'm just worried for her. And if things don't go well… We won't be safe here. Our companies will be at war, and yours will be hunting you down, and Aurora and Atom…"

"Shhhh." Lincoln coos as he turns her around to hold her to his chest. Octavia wraps her arms around him and places her head on his chest, letting his heartbeat soothe her. "Aurora and Atom are down for their naps, why don't you give her a call? Whatever happens, I am here for you. If we have to leave, I have a friend who will take us in. Her name is Luna, and she broke away from the Coalition years ago. We will be safe there; her location is a closely guarded secret."

Octavia pulls her head away to look up at him. When she tilts her head up, he leans down to press a soft, gentle kiss to her lips. "Okay." Octavia sighs against his lips, and then breaks their hold to pull her phone out of her back pocket and give Clarke a call. She quickly becomes nervous after a few rings, but finally Clarke answers.

"Hello?" Clarke croaks out, her voice shaky and thick with tears.

"Clarke? What's wrong? What happened?" Octavia half yells at her in relief at hearing her voice. Octavia waits for a reply, but only hears gasps and sobs from the other side of the phone. Did Clarke kill Lexa? What had happened? Hearing how distraught her best friend is, Octavia uses her soothing mother voice she had perfected on Aurora and Atom. "Clarke, sweetie, tell me where you are. I will come get you."

There is silence, and then some sniffles, before Clarke chokes out, "No, O, you and Lincoln need to get the kids out of here. Get them to safety. Warn my mom and Raven for me, will you? I'm… I'm going to the Dropship to pick up some supplies. Lexa…I have to end this. Soon. Before anyone else suffers for this."

"Clarke…" Octavia starts, but doesn't know how to finish. She has no idea what had transpired between them, but clearly nothing good.

"It's her or me, O. You know the rules. If… if I don't make it, tell Raven and my mom that I love them. And Bellamy, Lincoln, Atom, and Aurora. I love you, O. May we meet again."

When Octavia hears Clarke telling her what sounds like a last goodbye, she starts yelling at Clarke through the phone. "No Clarke! We can help you, you don't have to do this alone!" When she hears Clarke hang up without another word, she growls at her phone and presses her speed dial, but it only rings. She calls again, but this time it goes straight to voicemail. She must have turned her phone off. Tears roll down her face and she sees Lincoln walk into the room, but she calls Raven instead of talking to him.

Raven answers on the first ring. "O? What's up? Did you hear from Clarke?"

"She said goodbye, Raven. I don't know what happened, but I called her and all she said was that she had to finish this and then she said goodbye." Octavia starts crying harder as Raven chokes back a sob.

Raven starts yelling through her tears. "Why does she insist on being the hero? She doesn't have to do this alone! That bitch." There is silence between the two friends as they try to gather themselves. After a moment, Raven softly says, "This is going to start a war, O. No matter what happens… If Clarke kills Lexa, they will retaliate, and we won't survive. And if we lose Clarke…" Raven's voice breaks, but she pushes through it. "I won't hold anything back, and with Abby on the Council, I know war will be declared against the Grounders. Either way…"

"Either way, this ends in a war." Octavia looks up at Lincoln, and after a few seconds, he nods and turns around to go upstairs to pack suitcases. Octavia hates what she is about to say, because she has never run from a fight in her life, but this isn't about her anymore. "Rae… I can't stay… I…"

Raven swallows hard. "I know. You have to think about Aurora and Atom. They need parents, _both_ their parents. I don't blame you, O. You and Lincoln need to go, for their sakes."

"Rae, what about you? I won't leave you alone!"

"O, I need to stay. Clarke might need me. If neither of us hears from Clarke in a few hours, I will call Abby and sound the alarm." Raven pauses, knowing what she is about to say will hit Octavia hard. "Have you talked to Bellamy?"

As Octavia thinks about her brother and what leaving will do to him, Lincoln walks in the room, holding a squirming Atom in one hand and a suitcase in the other. He deposits the baby in her arms and sets the suitcase by the door before going back upstairs to get Aurora and the other suitcase.

As Atom squirms around, Octavia unbuttons her shirt so he can nurse. When he finally settles, she replies to Raven. "I haven't talked to him. He will be devastated, but I have to go. For the children, and I'm afraid what will do to Lincoln when he finds out who he works for… I don't want to make him choose between me or the company he has dedicated his life to, not to mention that even though he's dating Gina, I know he's in love with Clarke…"

"He won't want to leave her, especially when she's in danger. But you leaving without a word would devastate him, O. You know how much he loves you." Raven says in a low voice.

"I know… I will call him." After a moment of silence between the two friends, Lincoln walks in with another suitcase.

Lincoln bends down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees and rubbing her thighs soothingly. "We should go, O. Sooner rather than later. I know how they operate and I'm sure the Commander would want to have us watched. We need to leave before they get here."

Octavia nods her head at him as tears start to roll down her face again. He takes Atom and a suitcase outside, and she starts buttoning up her shirt. "I have to go, Rae."

"I love you, O." Raven whispers to her.

"I love you too, Rae. Take care of yourself, and Clarke. I will get in contact with you as soon as I can." When Octavia hears Raven start sobbing, she hangs up and tries to pull herself together. She goes upstairs to get Aurora, who is still asleep. She sits on the edge of her bed and starts rubbing her hand soothingly up and down Aurora's back to wake her up.

"Sweetie, we are going on a trip, you need to wake up so we can go."

Aurora slowly opens her eyes and blinks at her, still half asleep. She stretches her little body, then rolls onto her back to look at her mother. "A vacation?"

"Yes Rora, a vacation. It's going to be fun, but I need you to get up and get dressed, OK?"

Aurora smiles sweetly at her before asking, "Is Rae Rae coming? And Uncle Bellamy? Aunty Lexa and Aunty Clarke?"

Octavia bites her lip to hold back her tears. "No, it's just us. But it's still going to be fun."

Aurora wrinkles her little nose at Octavia in confusion. "If it's going to be fun, why are you crying, Mommy? What's wrong?" She wraps her arms around Octavia in a hug and looks up at her with concern in her big eyes, which look just like Lincoln's.

Octavia squeezes her daughter tightly and then picks her up and sets her down on the floor. "I'm a little sad to leave your Aunts and Uncles, but we are going to have so much fun. But we can't leave without you, so go to the bathroom while I pick you out some clothes, OK?"

Aurora nods her head and goes into the bathroom. Octavia takes a couple deep breaths, composing herself, before she calls her brother.

"Hey little O, what's up?"

"I told you not to call me little, Bell." Octavia playfully huffs at him, as she starts going through what Lincoln left in Aurora's drawers to dress her in.

"But you are little!" Bellamy jests back.

"Next time I see you, I'm going to kick your ass." Octavia freezes when she says that, realizing that she doesn't know the next time she will get to see her brother.

Sensing a shift, Bellamy drops the teasing tone. "What's wrong, O?"

"Are you home? I haven't seen you in a couple days, and I thought I might swing by for a quick visit on our way to the movies with the kids."

"I'm at Gina's cabin all week, remember? Meeting the family. But I should be back this weekend, and we can hang out."

Octavia can't hide the sadness in her voice when she says, "OK."

"Octavia, if you need me to, I will come home right now, you know that. What's wrong? Is it Lincoln? I swear to God if he did something I will…"

"Bellamy! It's nothing, alright? You know Lincoln would never do anything to me!" Octavia softens her tone when Aurora comes out of the bathroom. "I will see you when you get back, OK? I want to hear all about your trip."

"Of course. I love you, O."

"I love you too, Bell." Octavia hangs up before she can start crying again and starts helping Aurora get dressed. As she helps Aurora pull a shirt on, she glances out the window, and sees Lincoln buckling Atom into the back of their car. Suddenly, she sees a figure start creeping up behind him, and before she can warn him, the man stabs something into his neck, and Lincoln drops like a stone.

Octavia looks at Aurora and tells her, "Stay here, sweetie, OK? I'm going to check on your Dad. Don't leave this room." Without waiting for a reply, she runs out of the room and down the stairs, but just as she bursts out of the front door, she is feels a prick in her neck and everything goes black…

* * *

Indra grumbles as Ryder slaps an ice pack into the hand not holding her cellphone. When he opens his mouth to say something, she glares at him with enough force that he closes his mouth and goes about finishing tying the ropes around Octavia and Lincoln. They shouldn't wake up for another few minutes or so, but he wants to be sure that they are secure.

A loud cry pierces the room, and Indra looks pointedly at Ryder.

"Why do I have to take care of the children?"

Indra refuses to answer his pointless question. She's the more senior; of course she's going to handle the interrogations. Besides, she still hasn't forgiven that feisty little girl for giving her a black eye. She should have known, considering how her mother is. "It's probably hungry. Try looking for a bottle in the fridge. Make sure to heat it up in the microwave. Or it might need changing."

Ryder tilts his head towards the open door of the spare bedroom, where Aurora is passed out. "And what of the other one?"

"She shouldn't wake for another hour or two. I can handle her."

Ryder smiles as he says, "Clearly you can't."

Indra clenches her jaw and her nostrils flare in anger as she glares at him.

Seeing the intense look on his general's face, he picks up the baby and quickly makes his way up the stairs to take care of him.

After another few moments, Indra hears a groan, and watches as Lincoln starts to wake up. He looks around with wide eyes and his frowns when he sees her.

"Indra? What's going on?" He starts looking around wildly and relaxes slightly when he sees Octavia tied up behind him, but tenses when he can't find his children. He fixes his gaze on her and growls, "Where are my children?"

"Atom is upstairs with Ryder. Aurora is still asleep." Indra inclines her head towards the open door, where Lincoln can just catch a glimpse of his daughter.

At that moment, Octavia groans as she starts waking up. Indra and Lincoln both wait for her to fully get her bearings.

Octavia squints at Indra, evidently still not completely awake and aware. She gives Lincoln a small smile when she sees him, but then frowns when she realizes that he is tied up. She tries to stand, and realizes that she is restrained as well. "Where are my children?" She asks.

Indra drops the ice pack and stands, stalking over to Octavia to tower over her. "Safe. Now, I need you to tell me everything you know about the _Skaikru_."

Octavia spits at Indra's feet. "I'm not telling you _shit_. Not until I see my children!"

"Rest assured, no harm will come to them, if you cooperate. Now tell me, where is your headquarters? How many agents do you have?"

Before Indra can continue her barrage of questions, Lincoln interrupts. "She's bluffing, Octavia. Children are highly prized among the _Trikru_. They will be cared for. Tell her nothing."

Indra turns to glare at Lincoln. "Do not think that just because you worked for me for 10 years, _natrona_ , that I will not harm you. Or her."

Indra watched as Lincoln looked over at Octavia. Silently, they communicate, ending with a firm nod, and then turn to look back at Indra with fierce gazes. Internally, she groans, knowing that without further methods of torture and using the children as blackmail, she won't be able to get anything out of them. She turns her back to them and settles herself onto the couch, waiting for _Heda_ to call her back with further instructions.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry for the long wait! Remember, chronologically, this is happening right after the elevator incident when Clarke and Lexa are both readying themselves for dinner. Let me know if you like seeing more of the other characters! It will still mostly be Clexa, but I could write a longer story with the other characters.


	24. Commander of Death

_Lexa brings the glass of red wine to her lips, and takes a long slow sip, savoring the flavor. She sets her now empty glass down, and runs her index finger around the rim as she thinks. Six years ago when she had asked Clarke to marry her in this restaurant, she was sure that she was going to be the happiest woman alive. Now, she was sure that she would never be happy again._

 _Lexa closes her eyes and drops her head to look down at the table, refusing to cry in public. She senses someone walk up behind her, and, thinking that it is the waiter, she raises her glass for him to refill it. The waiter grabs the glass over her hand, to keep it steady, as he pours her another glass. As soon as she feels that familiar touch on her skin, however, her eyes shoot open and her head shoots up in unbelieving shock._

 _Before Lexa can turn her head, her hand is released and someone walks into her line of sight, taking a seat across from Lexa as she sits there frozen, mouth agape. Lexa is completely frozen as she stares at Clarke, who calmly and gracefully pulls her dress up so that she can sit in the chair across from Lexa, smirking at the look of complete shock on her face._

"Hello Lexa." At Lexa's widening of eyes, Clarke smirks. "You know, I thought of a number of lines for this moment." Clarke throws at Lexa's shocked face. "Thought I'd just _drop_ in. Thanks for givin' me the _shaft_."

Lexa looks around the room, as if to make sure that this woman in front of her is not a hallucination. She can't sort through the mixture of emotions currently swirling through her at the moment. Shock that the woman she thought was dead is alive. Relief that she had not killed her love. Confusion as to how Clarke escaped and found her.

Clarke smirks at the mixed emotions running across Lexa's face, and takes the napkin off the table with her right hand to place it in her lap, hiding her weapon. The sound of a gun cocking finally brings Lexa out of frozen stupor. Slowly, knowing that Clarke won't do anything with so many witnesses around, Lexa sets her napkin on the table, allowing it to fold back for a moment, giving Clarke a view of her own gun.

As the two stare intently at each other, a waiter approaches the table. "Would you like a glass of wine from the same bottle?"

Without breaking the stare, Clarke replies. "No, I had a bad experience the last time I drank wine. I'll have a martini."

As the waiter walks off to fulfill Clarke's order, Lexa leans forward, to prop both her elbows on the table. She looks as if she wants to say something, but doesn't have the words. Instead, she lets her eyes roam Clarke's face hungrily, a face she never thought she would get to see again.

Since Lexa couldn't seem to find the words, Clarke starts talking. "We have an usual problem, Lexa. You obviously want me dead, and I don't find myself wanting to wait for a fat judge to sign divorce papers to be rid of you. It's supposed to be 'till death do us part, and you are obviously embracing that we are only going to part through death, so I have no trouble doing the same."

Lexa clenches her fist and swallows hard. "Clarke…" Lexa whispers, her voice full of pain.

Clarke continues as if Lexa had never spoken. "So what do we do? We could shoot it out here, and hope for the best. That doesn't seem like your style though. Using my innocent friends to trap me and then betraying me, now that does sound like someone we know, doesn't it?"

"Clarke, please…"

"No, you had your chance to talk." Clarke gets up without another word, and nearly smiles at the troubled look Lexa has on her face. Keeping her face cold and angry, she walks around the table and holds out her hand for Lexa.

Lexa hesitantly reaches out and places her hand in Clarke's. Clarke pulls her to her feet and leads her to the dance floor, where everyone is currently doing the tango. She shifts her hand around Lexa's, moving her hand on top of Lexa's and thrusting downwards, straining Lexa's wrist. Lexa stumbles in surprise, at the pain and at the move, but Clarke roughly swings Lexa around and into her arms with her right hand on Lexa's waist, forcing Lexa to accept Clarke's lead and place her left hand on Clarke's shoulder.

"You have no idea who I am. You have no idea what I'm capable of." Clarke growls, looking over Lexa's shoulder and refusing to make eye contact with her. The tempo of the music picks up, and Clarke starts walking Lexa backwards, until she slams into the mirror on the wall.

Lexa grunts in pain as glass shatters beneath her back. Clarke pulls her back into her arms, until their faces are only inches apart, their noses almost touching. This close, Lexa couldn't mistake the look in Clarke's blue eyes for anything but intense anger and pain at her betrayal. Lexa had loved Clarke for six years, and she had never seen her look like this, not even during their worst fights about work in the past year. She knew what she had done was unforgiveable, but she had no choice. 'We are what we are.' Lexa reminded herself. And she was most certainly _Heda_ … but she was also a wife.

As the two continue to dance, Clarke glares at Lexa's green eyes, realizing that for once, she can't decipher what the brunette is feeling. More like she doesn't want to; she doesn't know if she will be able to do what she had planned to do if she allows herself to see the pain and regret that Lexa is evidently feeling. So Clarke ignores Lexa's eyes and holds onto her pain and anger. She had loved Lexa for five years, and never would have tried to kill her. She would have tried to make things work, to figure out a solution to their problem or a way around the rules, while Lexa had barely considered hearing her out before trying to kill her.

Abandoning her train of thought, Clarke dips Lexa, running her hand along the brunette's back, which ends up pulling their faces close together. Lexa allows her lips to part slightly, relishing being back in Clarke's arms, something she had never thought she would feel again. Lexa relaxes as Clarke runs a hand down her thigh as she pulls them back upright. Lexa ends up standing on one leg with the other thrown over Clarke's hip. Clarke's hand quests further up Lexa's thigh, until she finds the knife strapped there. She carefully slides it out of the sheath, and then flicks it underhand to land in the wall, vibrating back and forth as it sticks in the wood.

After being disarmed of one of her weapons, Lexa realizes that this isn't her wife anymore; this is _Wanheda_. And no matter how much pain she was in over losing Clarke, she knew that as _Heda_ she had made the right choice in trying to kill her. As the Commander, she didn't regret her earlier decision. While she wishes that she didn't have to make the choice between her personal life and her professional one, she knew what she would choose - she would choose what she had trained her whole life for, what she was born to do, what thousands of her people were counting on her to do, even if it destroyed her.

As Clarke twirls her and Lexa around, she feels a change come over the brunette. Her eyes turn cold, her face returns to its stoic façade, and her whole body coils with power. Clarke grins wolfishly; finally, she had provoked the Commander to come out. Lexa's fingers trail up Clarke's side, tracing the outside swell of her breast. Clarke barely holds back a shiver at the touch, but then her eyes widen slightly as Lexa deftly finds the knife hidden in the fabric of her dress and flicks it into the wall, right next to the knife she had thrown only a moment before.

Lexa quirks her eyebrow at Clarke in challenge. "Back at you babe. You have no idea who _I_ am, what _I_ am capable of."

Clarke narrows her eyes and bares her teeth in anger. "Oh, I think I do." Clarke lets her hand slide from Lexa's hip to her lower back, then down to her ass, probing for more weapons.

Lexa smirks at Clarke's attempt, and when Clarke comes up empty, she gives her a wink. "Couldn't resist grabbing my ass one last time?"

Clarke responds by twirling them and stepping on Lexa's foot with her heel, making sure to grind down hard. "Oh, I'm sorry, how clumsy of me."

Lexa holds back her groan of pain by clenching her jaw. "Why don't you let me take over then." Lexa retorts as she digs her fingers in between the bones of Clarke's wrist, causing the blonde to loosen her hold, allowing Lexa to switch their positions so that she is now leading the dance.

The two continue to swirl around the dance floor, glaring angrily into each other's eyes. After several moments, Lexa finally breaks. "Clarke…" Lexa whispers. Clearing her throat, she continues. "Don't make me kill you. Everyone in my company already thinks you are dead. If you leave town, you could live the rest of your life in peace."

Clarke tightens her grip on Lexa's hand and shoulder to a point that Lexa finds painful. " _I_ can leave town?" Clarke laughs harshly. "I'm not leaving my people in the middle of a war with your company. I don't _betray_ the people I care about. Besides, what makes you think that _you're_ going to be the one to kill _me_?" Clarke's anger over the betrayal and Lexa's utter disregard for her bubbles over. Clarke snarls at her. "You bitch! You wanted the Commander of Death? I'll kill _you_."

At Clarke's anger, Lexa loosens her hold, and Clarke takes the opportunity to shake off Lexa's hands and turn for the closest exit, which happens to be stairs heading to the upstairs dining room. Clarke walks so fast that she's nearly running, drawing the attention of the people nearby on the dance floor. Before she makes it to the stairs, Lexa calls out to her. "No exits up there, Clarke."

Clarke ignores Lexa and lifts the end of her dress in order to more easily climb the stairs. When she makes it to the top, she reaches in between her breasts and pulls out a small device. Her sudden entrance has drawn the attention of many of the room's diners, who are now all staring at her in alarm. "You have 20 seconds to get out of here." She coldly growls at them, which starts a panic as everyone gets up from their tables and starts running for the exit. Clarke places the bomb on the far wall and presses a button, setting the bomb to go off in 15 seconds. "Thanks Rae" she whispers, before turning for the exit with everyone else. She does her best to hide behind a particularly tall man as she makes her way down the stairs and towards the front door.

Lexa is still standing in the middle of the dance floor, waiting for Clarke to return, when she sees people start rapidly descending the stairs. She is confused, until she sees the look of panic in their eyes. Sensing that something is wrong, she strides quickly back to their table and grabs her gun, holding it low to her thigh so that fewer people will see it. She turns back to the stairs, still searching for Clarke, but is unable to find her.

Suddenly, a small explosion occurs, sending dirt and dust shooting out of the doorway at the top of the stairs. As no more people seem to be coming down the stairs, Lexa looks around frantically, trying to find a blonde head of hair. Lexa spots her just as she's about to exit the restaurant. Clarke looks over her shoulder and their eyes meet. Clarke gives Lexa a hard stare, and turns without another glance to follow the crowd out of the restaurant.

Angry with herself for letting Clarke escape, Lexa starts pushing past people, trying to catch up. However, the large group of people all trying to leave at one time slows her down. When she finally makes it out of the door, she looks around quickly, trying to block out the screams of frightened people and honking horns as she searches for Clarke.

As Lexa stands there looking for Clarke, a man next to her starts checking her out. Seeing what he thinks is distress, he decides to make a move and puts his hand on her shoulder. The next thing he knows, he's on his back on the ground, with Lexa on top of him. Instinctively, she reaches for her where her knife should be strapped to her thigh to hold it at his throat, but something else is in the sheath instead. She puts her hand on the man's throat and growls at him "Don't ever touch a woman without permission" as she uses her other hand to pull out the object from her knife sheath. She gets off the man without a second glance and starts examining the small, round, black object in her hand. Through the surrounding noises, she hears a ticking coming from it, and she realizes what it is.

Looking around, Lexa spots a mailbox nearby. She runs to it and tosses the bomb inside, then starts yelling at the innocent people to move back. A muffled explosion sounds, and she ducks slightly and covers her head as flaming letters fly into the air around her. As people start screaming and running away, Lexa follows the crowd. The valet is currently bringing a red Ferrari to the front of the restaurant, and Lexa flags him down. He stops right next to her, and Lexa opens the driver side door before he can and yanks him out onto the pavement. Hopping inside, she steps on the gas and drives off. After being married to Clarke for 6 years, she knows exactly where she is headed for their showdown.

* * *

 **AN:** So this is exciting! Talking about their problems and figuring them out :D I can't decide if next chapter or the one after that will be more action, but know that it is coming! And then after that it just keeps coming ;)


	25. Angels and Monsters

As Clarke races to her house, still in Lexa's car, she can't sort through her mess of feelings. She had planted the bomb, but she doesn't know if it was successful, and she isn't sure if she wants to be. Of course she was still angry with Lexa for trying to kill her, and logically eliminating the Commander was her only option after the Coalition learned her identity, but she still can't forget the relief that she saw in Lexa's eyes upon seeing her alive, or the way Lexa felt in her arms when they danced, or the way she still shivered when Lexa touched her. "Fuck" she groans aloud, as a tear pricks at her eyes. She is in _Lexa's_ car, which smells of pine and Lexa, driving back to _their_ home. She forces herself to think about the way Lexa had so carelessly tossed their home, at how Lexa had so carelessly tossed their relationship away, so that when her phone rings, she angrily stabs at the hands free button on the dashboard without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" She growls out.

"Clarke! Thank God you're OK!" Raven yells through the phone.

"I'm fine, Rae." Before Clarke can say anything else, her phone rings again. Thinking that it is Octavia, she hangs up on Raven and answers it. However, she doesn't get the opportunity to speak before the caller.

"Is that the best you can do? That little bomb?"

Clarke grits her teeth at the sound of that cocky, familiar voice. "I was hoping to minimize any bystander causalities. I actually have honor, and I don't involve _innocents_ in my problems."

Lexa's jaw clenches at the jab. "I hope you know, that I'm going home and I'm going to burn everything I ever bought you."

Clarke taunts her back. "That'll be hard, because I'll already be there."

"Race you there then." Lexa growls and hangs up without waiting for a reply. Lexa steps on the gas, flying down the highway well over the speed limit. With only one hand on the steering wheel, Lexa uses her free hand to press her second speed dial. It rings a few times, before Anya picks up.

"Lex? Is everything OK?" Anya sounds worried.

"Move in on Raven." Lexa replies.

"Lexa, what's going on?" Anya is confused and worried. Last she had seen her best friend, Lexa was trying not to fall apart. Not to mention the strange call she had gotten from Titus about Lexa supposedly kicking the Ice Nation ambassador off the top of Polis Tower. They couldn't be sure, as none of the other ambassadors were willing to talk about the situation.

"I'm fine. Talk to Raven, and obtain more information on members of the Skaikru. Use all means necessary. Check in with Indra and Gustus and tell them to hold their positions." Without waiting for a reply, Lexa hangs up to focus on driving down the highway.

After a few minutes of swerving through traffic angrily, Lexa hits an open area on the highway. The faster she drives, the faster her thoughts go, and she finds herself dialing her first speed dial.

"You there yet?" Clarke answers.

Lexa ignores Clarke's question and quietly asks her own question. "The first time we met, what was your first thought?"

Completely shocked, Clarke has no reply, so she turns it back on Lexa. "You tell me."

"I thought…" Lexa pauses, swallowing back her emotions. "I thought you looked like my salvation, as if I had spent my entire life trapped under the weight of my duty, and you came crashing down from the sky like an angel to save me."

Clarke swallows hard, determined not to let Lexa know how much she was affecting her. Lexa hadn't spoken to her like this since their first few years of marriage. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"I already spent several hours today thinking that I had killed you, Clarke." Lexa makes sure to click the 'k' in Clarke's name. She had always loved saying her name. "And I couldn't stop thinking about your last words to me. Because you were never nothing to me. That was the hardest decision I have ever made as Commander, harder than sending hundreds of people to war, harder than making peace with the enemy who had killed my first love…" Lexa's voice begins to shake, and she goes silent rather than allow Clarke to hear her weakness any further.

Clarke's breath catches. She can't reconcile the sweet Lexa that is talking to her now and the Commander who had tried to kill her. But they were the same person. And as much as Lexa regretted it, she had betrayed her. And Clarke would not let her do it again. But for now, for right now, she could make her last conversation with Lexa an honest one, and she could get closure. "Why is it that you think we failed? Besides the fact that you tried to _kill_ me, before that we… We weren't us anymore. Was it because we were leading separate lives? Was it the lying?"

Lexa takes time to gather her thoughts, knowing how important her answer would be. "Our duty has always been to our people. I have always put my work first. You have always cared deeply about your friends and family. That's why I…" Lexa trails off, knowing that her words would only make what was about to happen more painful.

Clarke hears the words that Lexa doesn't say but doesn't respond to them. Instead, she breaks the silence in a different way. "A goddess."

Lexa's confusion tears her from her thoughts. "What?"

"When I first saw you. I thought you looked like a warrior goddess, as if all you had to do was pull out a sword and I would be safe. You would fight for me; protect me from the monsters in the world."

"Clarke…" Lexa breathes Clarke's name like a prayer.

Clarke hits her head back against the headrest of the car. She allows Lexa's voice to wash over her, before she closes her heart off from it. Coldly, she tells Lexa, "But you didn't protect me from you - the monster that hurt me the most."

The hurtful words pull Lexa back from the moment and into the harsh reality. Clarke hates her, and she must do her duty as Commander and eliminate the threat of _Wanheda_. So she hardens herself into the Commander once more. "We can't run away from who we are."

"May we meet again." Clarke hangs up the phone without another word.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry this was so short and angsty and emotional, but next chapter will be actiony and awesome!


	26. Orders

Anya had been waiting outside Raven's house for several hours monitoring it when she her phone started to buzz. She grumbled and fished it out of the back pocket of her jeans. When she saw who was calling, however, she quickly pressed the button on her phone to answer it.

"Lex? Is everything OK?" Anya quickly asked.

"Move in on Raven." Lexa replies.

"Lexa, what's going on?" Anya is confused and worried. Last she had seen her best friend, Lexa was trying not to fall apart. Not to mention the strange call she had gotten from Titus about Lexa supposedly kicking the Ice Nation ambassador off the top of Polis Tower. They couldn't be sure, as none of the other ambassadors were willing to talk about the situation.

Lexa coldly replies, "I'm fine. Talk to Raven, and obtain more information on members of the Skaikru. Use all means necessary. Check in with Indra and Gustus and tell them to hold their positions."

Before she can respond, Anya hears the click of Lexa hanging up on her. Anya frowns at her phone, angry that Lexa had refused to talk to her about anything. As one of Lexa's top generals and closest friend, she usually was part of the decision making process in any of these events, not a common soldier to be ordered about. Despite ther special relationship, Lexa still was _Heda_ , and she had her orders.

Anya sets aside her binoculars and pulls several knives from her center console. It's capture, not kill, so she will have to get close enough to incapacitate Raven alive and mostly unharmed, so guns are out of the question, which shouldn't be too hard. By now, Raven has no doubt heard of Clarke's death and is distracted with mourning.

As she is readying her knives, she places a call to Indra. It rings for a moment before it Indra answers it.

"Indra."

"What's your status?" Anya asks as she bends down to slip a knife into her boot.

"Several hours ago, they tried to make a move to leave. Ryder and I captured them, and we are now holding them in the basement."

Anya can hear several muffled yells in the background, which must be Octavia. "Why didn't you call me when you captured them?

"I have been trying to reach Lexa, but she won't answer her phone and all my calls to the office are forwarded to Titus. I didn't want to bother you until I had useful information."

Anya smirks at the slight hint of anger in Indra's voice. She knows that this is a serious situation, but what she wouldn't give to see the power play going down in that house. Indra was tough as nails, but Octavia was just as stubborn. "I'm guessing you weren't successful."

"Simple questioning has not been effective, and I am reluctant to resort to more aggressive actions until I have confirmation from _Heda,_ due to the… situation."

Anya sighs. This was a mess. Normally, Indra was ruthless, but Lincoln had worked for her for years, and Indra quite liked his family, or as much as she could actually like someone. And like all _Trikru_ , she valued the lives of young ones and would hesitate to do anything that might emotionally or physically scar Lincoln and Octavia's children. "I just spoke with Lexa, briefly. She is busy, with what, I do not know. Her orders were for you and Gustus to hold your positions, and I will move in on Raven."

"Very well, Ryder and I will remain here. I will update Gustus. Good hunting." Without waiting for a reply, Indra hangs up.

Anya shakes her head and allows herself a small smile. She was always fond of Indra, despite her brusque manner. She got the job done, and you always knew where you stood with her. Her loyalty to Lexa was never in doubt, which Anya knew would be needed in the upcoming war on the _Skaikru_.

Anya silences her phone and slips it into a pocket and then steps out of her car, glancing around the neighborhood. Seeing no one, she crouches low and runs for the nearest tree, which happens to be in the front yard of Raven's neighbor. Several feet in front of the tree, Anya jumps, grabbing the lowest branch and using it to pull herself up. Quickly, she climbs higher and higher until she is two stories above the ground. Anya rests her back against the tree and takes a deep breath, inhaling the smell of bark and sap, using it to calm and focus her as she plans the route she will take.

With one more deep breath, Anya takes off running across a limb. When it starts to bend under her weight, she jumps, arms outstretched to catch the branch on the neighboring tree. She continues in this manner until she is standing on a limb looking in Raven's bedroom window. She checks for alarm sensors on the window, and upon finding nothing, she uses one of her knives to pry it open and slip inside. Carefully, she slides the window shut behind her without making a sound.

Anya scans the room, listening and looking for any clues about Raven's whereabouts, but finds nothing. She pads across the room silently, slowly and quietly easing the door open. Seeing the light on downstairs in the living room, she slowly makes her way down the stairs pressed to the wall to provide as small a target as possible. Sticking her head out and seeing that the coast is clear, she gently steps one foot out onto the rug in front of her, but freezes when she hears a mechanical click underneath her foot…

* * *

Raven was pacing her house worriedly. She hadn't spoken to Clarke since she had helped her with the bombs and the cameras on the elevator. Octavia had called her a few hours ago and told her what Clarke had said, and she tried to convince Raven to leave with her, but Raven couldn't. Octavia had her family to worry about, but Raven had no one but her friends, not since Finn had cheated on her. She wouldn't leave Clarke to do this on her own. Besides, she was more than confident that she could protect herself, especially in the house that she had spent her spare time adding to.

Raven makes her way from her living room into her workshop, hoping that fiddling with something will help her relax. After an hour of cleaning weapons, she can't hold herself back anymore and she calls Clarke. As soon as she heard Clarke pick up, she started speaking without waiting for her.

"Clarke! Thank God you're OK!" Raven yells through the phone.

"I'm fine, Rae."

Clarke hangs up without another word, and Raven slams her phone down in anger. Clarke was out there fighting the enemy, alone, and she was sitting at home with nothing to do. Deciding that she should put her nervous energy to good use, she make her way downstairs to her work room and starts fiddling with spare parts.

After she has built, disassembled, and rebuilt a bomb, her watch buzzes. Looking down at it, she swipes the interface to see the notification that her bedroom window had been opened and closed. 'Interesting…' She pulls out her phone and types away at a few buttons, bringing her inner and outer home defense system online. She had spent much of her free time designing and creating this system, but never gotten the opportunity to try it out on anyone. Someone is most likely in her house now, but the system would help contain them, and keep any backup from coming to her would be attacker's aid.

Raven is in the middle of pulling out a pair of handcuffs, a dart gun, and rope when her watch buzzes again, showing the notification that 'Living Room Landmine 3 has been activated.' Pleased that the work she had put in has paid off, she starts up the stairs, whistling happily. When she steps into the living room, she freezes at the sight that she is greeted with.

A frozen, grumpy looking Anya is standing in her living room dressed in sleek black clothes and armed with a knife. "Anya? What are you doing here? Why did you come in through my… Oh my God…" Raven whispers her last words as she realizes that Anya must work with Lexa.

Anya does her best to regally draw herself up into a straighter posture, but is severely limited in her movements because she cannot shift her weight much or she will activate the landmine. Knowing that she is caught, she just glares at Raven in an intimidating manner.

Raven can't hide her smirk when she picks up her phone and types on it. Unbeknownst to Anya, she is disarming the landmine. Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she quickly pulls out her dart gun and shoots Anya before Anya even has time to think about moving. Seconds later, the dirty blonde is slumping to the ground, and Raven is strolling forwards to grab her arms and drag her down the stairs.

* * *

Anya wakes with a groan and an enormous headache pounding through her temples. Her neck is sore from slouching forward while the rest of her body is locked upright in a seated position. She feels a glass of water being pressed to her lips, and moves to take it, but realizes she is restrained with rope around her waist and legs and handcuffs around her wrists. Her eyes shoot open, meeting the brown ones of one Raven Reyes. She jerks her head back, away from the glass of water.

Raven tuts at her and tries to move the glass of water closer to her, but when she just cranes her neck back further, Raven backs off. "You should drink, it will help with the headache. I will even give you some Advil, if you play your cards right." Raven flashes Anya a large smile, but Anya continues to glare at her with her lips pressed tightly together. Carefully, she tests her bonds, searching for weak points. The rope was tight, but luckily she and the agents went through vigorous training on how to escape bonds. If she dislocated her thumb, she would be able to slip the handcuffs, and then it would be no problem to cut her way free from the ropes.

"You know, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Raven straddles Anya's lap and sits down batting her eyes. With one hand, she caresses Anya's cheek as she leans in to huskily whisper, "I would hate to mess up such a pretty face, especially one attached to a body like yours." Raven slowly gives Anya a once over, smirking at her. Anya is completely stunned. She has never been seduced as part an interrogation tactic before.

Seeing that she is having no effect on Anya, Raven stands up and removes her jacket, leaving her in nothing but a tight tank top and jeans. "Fine, have it your way. Suffer." She picks up a grenade from a nearby table and pulls the pin out, then proceeds to walk a circle around Anya, tossing it gently back and forth from hand to hand. Anya's eyes widen, but she still remains quiet. "So, what are you doing here, Anya? First you _try_ to kill Clarke, and now _me_?"

Anya's face remains a mask of stone, not giving away anything. What does Raven mean by 'try'? They _had_ killed Clarke. Maybe denial was just her way of coping.

Raven pauses and bends down in front of Anya, staring at her, waiting for a reaction. "I saw the bomb, Anya." With Raven in front of her, Anya focuses on keeping her face blank as she prepares to dislocate her thumb. At her continued silence, a smile spreads across Raven's face. "It was a work of art, I'll give you that. I would like to meet whoever built it. But this is me we're talking about, THE Raven Reyes. I can get through _anything_."

Fear and pain simultaneously shoot through Anya. If Clarke was still alive, she would no doubt be hunting down Lexa, who was currently broken and destroyed thinking that Clarke was dead. Not only was Lexa a sitting duck, Anya did not know if Lexa would have the strength to kill Clarke again. She had to get out of here, as soon as possible, and warn Lexa that she was in danger.

Raven smiles at the first glimpse of emotion on Anya's face. The slight widening of her eyes and tiniest gasp indicated her fear. In order to hide her smirk, Raven stands up and turns around to put the pin back in the grenade and set it back on the table. "As soon as Clarke kills your Commander, well… The war is practically over, isn't it?" Raven pulls up a chair and sits down, casually slinging her legs up onto Anya's lap. "The ensuing fallout from a leader's death will only help us, especially after the recent loss of 300 of your people, that couldn't have been"

Raven is cut off sharply as pain explodes across her face and she falls hard to the floor, with Anya and the chair on top of her. Raven is stunned as her head smacks the ground hard and her breath whooshes from her body, making her vision swim. Fingers wrap around her neck, sharply cutting off her air. Raven faintly hears Anya growl "This is for Tris…"

Unfortunately for Anya, her dislocated thumb is hampering her ability to properly strangle Raven, and her body and legs are still tied up. Using all her strength, Raven knocks Anya off her. Raven gasps for breath, but gets to her feet as quickly as she can when she sees Anya pull a knife from her boot and start cutting herself free. Raven grabs the dart gun and turns to fire it at Anya, but finds it empty. As Raven grabs a new dart off the table, she sees Anya finally free herself from her ropes.

In her haste to load the gun, Raven pricks her finger, but still manages to load it. As Anya lunges for her, she gets the gun up just in time and fires off a shot, hitting Anya in the chest. Anya rips out the dart as she collapses onto Raven, knocking them both to the floor. Knowing she has only seconds before she passes out, she pokes Raven with the dart, hoping that there is enough substance still left in it to knock them both out, and she can wake up before Raven or before Raven has properly tied her up.

Raven feels a sharp prick of pain as Anya's head collapses onto her chest right in between her breasts. She feels around and pulls the dart from her side, already feeling whoozy. "Shit" she mutters, as her head falls back and she passes out.


	27. Mrs & Mrs Woods

**AN:** I had several requests to finish this ASAP, so I delivered! I have been waiting 47,000 words to write this chapter, I hope it lives up to it. I know nothing about guns, sorry if something is wrong. Warning for spousal abuse and violence similar to the movie.

* * *

Clarke's tires squeal as she slides around the last turn to their house. The back end of Lexa's car scrapes along the side of one parked on the street, but Clarke only presses the accelerator harder and grins. Lexa had always taken such care with her car, and it felt good to destroy her hard work. As she approaches the house, she brakes, and just as she turns towards the driveway, headlights flash in her peripheral vision. The passenger side window shatters and the side door crumples in, and Clarke jerks to the side. She shakes her head to regather herself, and turns her head to see a grinning Lexa sitting behind the wheel of a red Ferrari.

Clarke's anger grows as she watches Lexa reverse and then speed down their driveway. She turns the key to restart Lexa's car, but it takes several tries. Once she has restarted the car, she quickly reverses and then speeds into the driveway, but she knows that those few seconds that Lexa has have enabled her to obtain an advantage. Without bothering to shut off the car, Clarke jumps out and sprints to the front door, slamming into it in her hurry. She tries to unlock it, but realizes that she left her keys in the car. She growls in frustration and tries the handle one more time, but is unsuccessful. Clarke's rage is interrupted by a dog's bark, and she turns to see her neighbor walking down the sidewalk.

"Hello, Clarke, my dear!"

Clarke tries to remove the anger from her voice and inflect some cheer, as she speaks to her elderly neighbor while trying to subtly pick the lock with a hairpin. "Good evening Mrs. Taylor."

"How are you my dear? You look lovely, did you have a date with your wife tonight?"

At the mention of the word 'wife', Clarke flinches and drops her hairpin. She looks down, but is unable to locate it in the dark. "Ummm yeah, we went out to dinner." Clarke replies distractedly.

"Ah, young love. Enjoy it while it lasts!" Mrs. Taylor's small dog starts barking again, so she bends down to quiet it.

Seeing that her neighbor is distracted, Clarke runs along the front of her house, checking all the windows, hoping that one is unlocked. She is unsuccessful, and in her frustration she distractedly trips and falls onto a bush, disappearing out of sight.

"Oh, sweetie are you alright? What are you doing?" Mrs. Taylor had managed to quiet her dog in time to witness Clarke's fall.

Clarke grunts in pain and clumsily pulls herself up while trying to avoid the scratchy bushes. "Oh, I was just… You know… Checking on my bushes?"

Mrs. Taylor blinks a few times in confusion, when suddenly her eyes light up in understanding. "Oh, I see. This is some type of foreplay you and Lexa are doing."

Clarke frees herself from the bushes and looks at her neighbor in shock.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, my dear, it's natural to want to spice up your bedroom life! So are pretending to be a robber breaking in? You know, it really helps if you dress the part. Next time you should wear a mask, it really adds to the authenticity."

Clarke immediately turns bright red and whispers "Oh my God."

Having not heard Clarke, Mrs. Taylor continues the conversation. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Before you get more distracted, I thought I would mention that your car is still running. You might want to turn it off now, I'm sure you will be too busy later. Have a good night!" Mrs. Taylor sends Clarke an exaggerated wink and turns to walk down the street towards her own house.

Clarke watches the woman leave and shivers as she replays the conversation she just had with her grandmotherly neighbor. She manages to call out a strangled "goodnight!" before turning to run around the side of the house, still looking for a way inside.

As she runs around the side of the house, she looks through the windows for Lexa. All appears quiet, so she peeks around the corner of the house into the back yard and sees the Ferrari sitting on the grass, with a noticeably dented front. Just as she is about to head towards the back door to see if it is unlocked, she sees Lexa walking down the hallway holding an assault rifle. Clarke watches her for a second, admiring how hot Lexa looks all broody and dangerous, but quickly shakes herself out of it, ducking back behind the house to hide from her wife.

* * *

Although Lexa left the restaurant several minutes behind Clarke, she was a very good driver and she was in a _Ferrari_. After her emotional conversation with Clarke, she was back in Commander mode, smirking as she hits 100 on the highway, no doubt catching up to Clarke. As she whizzes past a police car taking radar, she smiles devilishly as she presses down harder on the accelerator, reaching 120. The cop has no chance of catching her. She gets off at the next exit, and heads for the house, slowing down so that she won't alert the suspicions of any other police officers.

A few minutes later as Lexa pulls onto their street, she sees her own car heading towards her, realizing that Clarke is still driving it. She hesitates for a second, not wanting to damage her car, but lets the feeling go and presses down harder on the accelerator, crashing into it. Lexa smirks at a stunned and pissed off Clarke and quickly reverses, then speeds into the driveway. She pulls behind the house on the lawn as close to the backdoor as she can and parks the car. As a habit, she grabs the keys and locks the car as she runs to the backdoor, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Clarke is nowhere in sight.

Lexa pulls her keys out and unlocks the door, then heads down into the basement. While she had searched the house for anything Clarke had been hiding, she hadn't touched any of her own secret weapons caches. She runs into the pantry and starts shoving food off the shelves so that she can reach the back wall. She finds the false panel, and then takes it off, pulling out an assault rifle, several knives, and several rounds for her gun.

Lexa slips off her heels and throws the ammo over her shoulder, then starts walking around the house, checking all windows and doors to make sure they are locked, leaving the back door for last. She walks a few feet outside, sweeping the back yard with her gun, looking for a flash of blonde hair or any sign of movement. Seeing that everything is all clear, she closes and locks the door then heads back into the house. Lexa slowly and cautiously walks towards the front door, leading with her gun. She moves to sit on the stairs facing the front door, hidden in the shadows with her weapon at the ready.

* * *

Clarke realizes she has little choices for breaking into her house, so she slips off her heels and puts the strap of one into her mouth. Knowing that Lexa is prowling around the house, Clarke silently starts climbing up the side of it. She knows that Lexa is unaware of her affinity for the sky, and logically it would make more sense for Lexa to cover the ground floor than worry about the second.

As Clarke reaches the windows on the second floor, she braces herself with her legs and right hand before using her left to take the heel out of her mouth and slam it into the window, breaking it open. She uses the shoe to clear away enough of the glass shards so that she can reach in and unlock the window. Quietly, she opens the window and slips inside, falling to the floor with a quiet thump.

Thinking that Lexa heard the sound, she whips a knife out from a hidden pocket on her dress and faces the door, prepared for Lexa to come storming in. After half a minute of silence, however, Clarke assumes that she is still undetected.

Clarke takes a moment to catch her breath, glancing around her art room, still sad at the state of disarray it is in. Sighing, she heads over to her trunk of paints, which has helpfully been emptied already for her. Clarke pulls out the false bottom and picks up a pistol and several rounds of ammunition. She screws a silencer onto the end of her weapon in the hopes that she can minimize the chances that the police will be called, and shoves the extra ammo between her breasts before heading towards the door leading out into the hallway, weapon drawn and safety off.

* * *

Lexa waits on the stairs facing the front door. From here, she has easy access to both floors of the house, and can guard a likely entryway. She remains crouched low, with her weapon drawn and safety off, tensed for action. The house remains silent, however, as much as she strains her ears listening for any sound.

Suddenly, Lexa hears a faint bump from the second floor. She frowns, not believing that Clarke would scale the house, but she silently creeps up the stairs on her bare feet, just in case. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she slows and quiets her breathing, just able to hear the sound of metal on metal from the room to her right, likely the sound of a gun being loaded.

Lexa hugs the wall and lets go of her weapon, letting it hang from the shoulder strap to rest against her front quietly so that her hands are free. She positions her right foot in front of her body just behind the entrance to Clarke's art room and her left foot behind her just on the edge of the steps. As the door opens slowly and quietly, Lexa coils her muscles waiting to strike.

When Lexa catches sight of silver, she waits a few more seconds until Clarke's arms emerge, holding the weapon out in front of her. As she turns quickly towards the stairs, Lexa strikes, grabbing Clarke's pistol first with her left hand and pulling it over her shoulder, then pivoting and using her right arm to flip Clarke over her and down the stairs.

Lexa turns to see Clarke fly through the air and land with a grunt, crashing into the wall on the landing at the bottom of the stairs. She picks up her weapon and trains it on an unmoving Clarke, smirking. At the sight of her wife prone on the floor, Lexa feels a pang. To cover up her hesitance, she taunts Clarke. "Is that all you got, _Wanheda_? Looks like those stories my warriors told were just all talk." Lexa swallows hard, steeling herself to pull the trigger as Clarke groans in pain.

* * *

One second Clarke had been holding onto her weapon, walking cautiously out the door, and the next she had been flying through the air down a flight of stairs, hitting the floor hard and slamming into the wall. She grunts in pain and tries to reorient herself. She knows that she has only seconds before Lexa shoots her, but her brain is still fuzzy from the fall, preventing her from quickly getting up.

"Is that all you got, _Wanheda_? Looks like those stories my warriors told were just all talk."

At the taunting words, Clarke's mind clears and her anger returns. Luckily, her training had held, and she still had hold of her weapon. Using a loud groan to hide the sound of her weapon sliding on the wooden floor, she quickly pulls it out from underneath her body and blindly fires off a few quick shots in Lexa's direction as she gets to her feet. When her eyes reach the top of the stairs, the hallway is empty, and she quickly fires several shots to the wall just next to the doorway to her art room. If Lexa had retreated in there just inside the door, she would be dead.

"You still alive, _Commander_?" Clarke returns Lexa's taunting words.

Lexa had thought that Clarke was incapacitated, until she suddenly caught the flash of silver pointing at her. Quickly, she dove to the side, landing safely in Clarke's art room. She leaves the door open but crouches down, knowing that few people expected someone to be low.

Just as she gets into a crouch, the wall explodes right above her head, raining shards of wood and plaster onto her head and face. When the bullets stop, she hears Clarke return her taunt from seconds before.

"You still alive, _Commander_?"

* * *

Face set in an angry scowl, Lexa waits several seconds then quickly pops up, sticking the end of her rifle through the hole in the wall and firing several shots down the stairs. After she fires off several shots, she quickly retracts her weapon and steps out into the hallway, rifle up and at the ready. Seeing an empty landing and knowing that Clarke most likely went for cover, she quickly and silently runs down the stairs two at a time. She knows that this is when she is at her most vulnerable with no cover, but she can't fight Clarke from a different floor of the house. However, to cover herself, she fires shots to both sides of the wall at the bottom of the stairs in an attempt to keep Clarke pinned down wherever she is.

When Lexa reaches the bottom of the steps, she turns left, knowing that Clarke is left-handed and would likely want her dominate hand able to easily sneak weapons around corners.

* * *

Clarke had just enough time to react when she caught the flash of metal in the wall right where Lexa's body would have been. She turned and dove down the steps to the right side at the bottom of the stairs into the living room and crawled across the floor as she heard the bullets keep coming right above her head. She slid along the floor until she reached the kitchen, taking a right to circle back through the dining room to come up on Lexa's other side.

Just as Clarke reaches the entrance to the dining room, she sees Lexa enter, and immediately she starts firing.

* * *

Lexa catches a flash of movement when she enters the dining room and immediately drops to the floor, sliding across it on her knees and turning to fire off quick shots at Clarke. Wood flies around her as bullets impact the wooden chairs and dining table. Lexa slides to the corner to hide behind the tall wooden liquor cabinet and reaches behind it to pull out a shotgun.

From this angle, she doesn't know where Clarke is. She is pinned down with no place to go. If she gets out from behind cover, she can either go back to where she came from near the front door or through the dining room towards the kitchen where she last saw Clarke. Either way, she will have to cross open space and will be in danger. Just as she starts calculating the odds of making it across the dining room alive, she hears the distinctive sound of metal clanging against stone. There is only one place where they have stone in the house. Lexa grins as she turns knowingly back to the entrance to the living room right next to the stairs and uses her shotgun to blow gaping holes in the living room walls where the fireplace is.

* * *

After she had pinned Lexa down behind the liquor cabinet, Clarke had quickly run back through the kitchen and into the living room. If she could circle back around, she would have an open shot at Lexa. However, as she was running through the living room, she knocked into the metal fireplace tools. She had grabbed them before they could hit the ground, but the poker had still clanged sharply against the stones. She freezes, praying that Lexa didn't hear.

Suddenly, chunks of drywall and shards of stone are flying around Clarke. Dropping the other tools, Clarke runs crouched over towards the kitchen. She angrily curses the day she had bought the metal set. She had thought that Lexa would make use of them, but it seemed her love for fire was confined mostly to candles.

As she reaches the kitchen, she sees a flash of brown curls in the moonlight from the windows, and quickly presses the trigger. Unfortunately, her gun clicks, signaling that she is out of rounds. Before she can grab another clip from in between her breasts, the rest of Lexa appears. Clarke quickly grabs the freezer door and opens it, hoping that the stainless metal will be an effective shield. It lasts for only seconds before the door's integrity is severely compromised by the barrage of bullets, and Clarke dives behind the center island.

Bullets whizz past Clarke as she luckily makes it safely behind the island. She yanks open a drawer, spilling kitchen utensils all over her. Ignoring the pain of a whisk hitting her in the head, Clarke runs her hands over the rest of the utensils, grinning maniacally as she comes up with a butcher knife. Thinking that maybe Lexa's propensity for buying knives is going to come back and literally stab her in the back, Clarke pulls her arm back and hurls the knife, flicking her wrist over the counter and letting a knife fly in Lexa's direction.

* * *

Knowing that the odds of her hitting Clarke with a bullet through the wall were low, Lexa immediately moves towards the kitchen, switching back to her assault rifle as her shotgun was out of shells. She sees a flash of blonde hair and opens fire, but the door to the freezer stops her bullets. She continues spraying the door, knowing that it was not made to take this kind of abuse.

Just when a bullet punches through the freezer door, Clarke dives for the safety of the center island through a haze of bullets, cold freezer mist, and flying chunks of frozen food. Lexa follows her path, aiming for Clarke, but Clarke gets behind cover too quickly. Lexa keeps up the gunfire, hoping to discourage Clarke from returning fire, as she is moderately exposed in the kitchen now.

When there is no sign of Clarke after 20 seconds, Lexa pauses her gunfire, finger still on the trigger and gun still aimed where she thinks Clarke is. The whoosh of metal through the air is all the warning she gets before she is instinctively ducking back behind the wall into the dining room. The knife hits the wall right where her head had been seconds before, but after hearing that familiar sound many times when Anya had thrown knives at her, Lexa is able to react quickly and calmly. She takes the opportunity to reload, calmly and efficiently.

"Your aim is as bad as your cooking, _sweetheart_." Clarke yells out, somewhat out of breath.

Lexa growls and slams a clip into her rifle angrily. "Right back at you, _babe_." She flips her now wild curls over her shoulder and points her gun out from behind the wall, pressing the trigger and blindly spraying the kitchen to provide cover. Then, she pops out behind it, searching for Clarke, still spraying bullets into the kitchen. Suddenly, she catches a flash of light that quickly blooms into a bigger explosion. Dropping her gun, Lexa turns and jumps away from the explosion into what she thinks is safety in the dining room, until she sees a wild form running through the flames towards her.

* * *

Clarke heard the knife thud into the wall and starts looking around the kitchen for another weapon. The only sound is her harsh breathing and the faint sound of metal sliding against metal from the room next door. 'Lexa must be reloading.' Clarke thinks to herself, as she tries to come up with a way to get the gun away from the brunette.

Her eyes look around the kitchen, taking in the mess, until she sees the stove. "Your aim is as bad as your cooking, _sweetheart._ " Clarke taunts Lexa, hoping that it will cover up any noises she is making. She rushes over to it, yanks the bottom drawers open, and yanks out the natural gas line hose. The whistling sound of gas fills the air, but Clarke ignores it and pulls the hose until it's stretched out as far as it can. She places it so that it points in the direction that she had last seen Lexa, then takes cover on the other side of the room.

"Right back at you _, babe_." Clarke hears Lexa growl back.

Before Clarke can say anything else, bullets start spraying the kitchen once again. Clarke peeks around the island and sees Lexa enter and then quickly jump back as she sees the explosion about to happen. Clarke doesn't hesitate, barely waiting for the flames to die down before running through them towards Lexa.

Parts of her dress starts burning, but Clarke ignores it in favor of letting loose a flying kick at Lexa, who has only been able to halfway rise from the ground. Clarke hears a grunt as she drives her knee into Lexa's stomach, sending her back into the dining room wall.

Clarke raises her elbow to slam it into her wife's face – the face of the woman who had betrayed her so cruelly - but Lexa ducks just in time. Clarke can't stop herself in time, and her elbow lands in the wall leaving a large hole.

Lexa pops up and elbows Clarke in the back of the head, slamming her face into the wall. Clarke is stunned from her second hit to the head that night, and Lexa is able to get behind her and push her into the entry table near the front door, glass shattering from the crystal pieces sitting on top. Clarke manages to catch herself on the table, barely holding herself up from completely falling on the floor. She watches Lexa turn and pick up a vase and finds the strength to stand and throw up an elbow, stopping the vase from hitting her head.

Lexa's hands are down from following through with the vase, and Clarke grabs her by her hair and dress straps and smashes her into the wooden railings on the stairs, breaking a few. Lexa lets out a yelp as her head smacks the wooden railings, stunning her. Clarke takes a deep breath and heaves Lexa through the air and into the living room, smashing a chair on her landing.

* * *

Lexa had avoided the explosion, but her gun was gone, and she was now defenseless on the ground. She is able to make it halfway standing before Clarke comes charging in at her like a devil with flames still licking at her dress. Lexa nearly loses her breath at the sight, but then actually does lose her breath seconds later as Clarke's knee drives into her stomach. She grunts as she flies back into the wall, her entire body smacking into it hard.

Lexa sees the elbow about to fly at her face, and barely catches her breath in time to duck underneath it. Clarke has too much momentum and smashes her elbow into the wall. Lexa becomes angry at how much that hit could have messed up her face, and uses her own elbow to hit the back of Clarke's head, smashing her face into the wall.

Clarke appears stunned from the intensity of the hit, so Lexa uses it to her advantage to slide out of Clarke's grip and shove her into the entryway table, smashing the crystal vases that sit on top. Lexa grabs a vase from a nearby table, raising it above her head and aiming for Clarke's head.

At the last second, Clarke's elbow comes up, smashing the vase and protecting her face. Lexa's body is off balance from her thwarted vase-smashing attempt, and Clarke is able to grab her by her hair and dress and slam her against the stair railings. Lexa yelps at the sharp pain of her hair being pulled, and then her head smacking the railings. Her eyes close at the impact, and the next thing she knows she feels herself being flung through the air.

Lexa tries to twist midair to use her hands and legs to break her fall, but doesn't get her wish when her midsection smashes into a chair in the living room, breaking it in half. Lexa slides across the carpeted floor, and struggles to get up as Clarke struts towards her.

"Come on honey, come to Daddy." Clarke taunts from behind Lexa.

Lexa growls angrily, and before Clarke has time to react, jumps up and smashes her fist into Clarke's face. Blood sprays as Clarke's cheekbone splits open, and Lexa grabs her by the hair and head-butts her. When Clarke sways from the hit, Lexa uses one leg to kick Clarke backwards into the china cabinet, just as she had kicked the Ice Nation Ambassador off the roof earlier that day. Lexa watches the glass and ceramics shatter under Clarke has she slides slowly to the ground.

"Who's your Daddy now?" Lexa taunts Clarke with a smug smile on her face. As Lexa stands there staring at an unmoving Clarke, she realizes that this time the pain might be too much for her to get up. "Give up baby? Before she can even think to continue, she is once again flying through the air, landing hard on her back with Clarke's hand around her ankle.

Lexa kicks Clarke's hand off, only to have Clarke pounce on top of her. Lexa tries to get her knee up in time, but Clarke uses her arm to shove it to the side. Suddenly, she feels wetness hit her face and hears, "Go fuck yourself because I will never bow to you."

Lexa grins at Clarke's fire, but then her rage takes over as she realizes that Clarke had _spit_ on her. Taking advantage of Clarke's ability to only use one hand, Lexa wraps her arm around Clarke's neck and her legs around her waist, trying to immobilize her. Clarke struggles, trying to break the hold, and when she is unable to, she struggles to her feet. Before Lexa can figure out why Clarke is now _holding on to_ her, her back is smashed into a grandfather clock. Lexa doesn't let go at the pain, however, and instead tries to pummel Clarke's back with her fists. However, she is unable to keep her grip when she smacks into the hard stone of the fireplace.

* * *

Clarke sees the great Commander lying on the floor of their living room and smirks, strutting towards her. "Come on honey, come to Daddy." She taunts, holding her hands out and crooking her fingers at Lexa in a 'come here' motion. Lexa's back is turned to her, however, and her relaxed stature and pain filled body dull her reflexes as Lexa's fist comes flying at her.

Clarke feels her cheek split open but can do nothing to stop the assault as Lexa head-butts her in the face. The edges of Clarke's vision blur to black as she struggles to remain conscious, swaying backwards. Clarke's battle with gravity fails as Lexa kicks her in the chest, landing hard against the china cabinet.

Clarke feels ceramic plates and glass doors smashing against and cutting her back as she slides to the ground, but feels powerless to stop it.

"Who's your Daddy now?" Lexa taunts her back. After a moment filled mostly with pain, Lexa has the gall to ask her, "Give up baby?"

Clarke's rage clears her head just in time to leap and grab Lexa's ankle, pulling her down to the ground. Lexa kicks her hand off, but Clarke dives on top of her. She uses one arm to shove Lexa's knee out of the way and tries to pin Lexa's hands with her other hand. Clarke spits a huge wad of saliva on Lexa before telling her, "Go fuck yourself because I will never bow to you." However, Clarke soon finds herself in a headlock, with Lexa's limbs clinging to her body like a koala.

Unable to break free, Clarke gathers her strength and struggles to her feet, reaching up with hand to loosen Lexa's hold around her neck enough for her to breath. She grips Lexa's hips with her other hand, and rams her back into the grandfather clock as hard as she can. Lexa's grip loosens only slightly, and Clarke feels her fists make contact with her back. Clarke then turns and smacks Lexa hard into the stone fireplace. This time, Lexa releases her, and Clarke steps back a few paces, wiping blood and sweat from her eyes, trying to catch her breath. She watches as Lexa sinks to the floor, chest heaving as she also tries to catch her breath.

Clarke still feels angry over the betrayal, and decides to literally kick Lexa when she's down. She lands a few good hits to Lexa's legs and ribs before her leg locks in Lexa's hold. Next thing she knows she is being pushed into the kitchen, Lexa's hand gripped in her dress. Her lower back hits the island, Lexa still with her hands fisted in the material of Clarke's dress. Clarke hears Lexa's harsh breath, no doubt some of her ribs cracked from being slammed into the fireplace. Blood runs down her face from a split brow, and a bruise mars her delicate cheekbone. She stares into Lexa's emerald green eyes, trying to decipher what is swirling in their depths. She watches as Lexa's eyes trace her own face, but before their eyes meet, Clarke grabs Lexa and twists her so that her back is against the kitchen island. As she switched their positions, Clarke had pulled out a knife from her dress, pressing it to Lexa's neck.

* * *

Lexa felt like every rib was broken from being slammed into the fireplace. She tries to breath, but her lungs won't contract. Lexa is unable to stop herself from sliding to the floor as she watches Clarke step back, clearly in just as much pain as she is. Something changes in Clarke's eyes, and she steps forward to kick her, aiming for her legs and torso. Lexa grabs Clarke's leg to stop the assault and uses it to pull herself upright, half stumbling and half pushing Clarke into the kitchen, until their progress is stopped as Clarke's lower back hits the center island.

Lexa can barely hear anything as she wheezes for breath, but she lets her eyes trace over Clarke's face, cataloguing her injuries. Her blond hair is now covered in dirty and glass, and her forehead seems considerably bruised from the repeated slamming into objects. Lexa nearly reaches out to wipe the blood from Clarke's cheek, but finds herself spinning and then slamming back against the kitchen island.

As her eyes find stormy blue she feels the cold metal of a blade pressed to her neck. She freezes, completely at Clarke's mercy, except for the knife palmed in her hand that she slipped out of Clarke's dress when she turned her. All it would take is one jab into her abdomen and…

Lexa stares into Clarke's angry eyes, mustering her courage and tensing her muscles subtly. Clarke shoves the knife harder against Lexa's neck, and she is about to make a move, but then she relaxes. She realizes that while she was able to try to kill Clarke before, she couldn't bring herself to do it again.

Lexa lets her hands fall to her sides and lets her perfect posture slump ever so slightly in relief. She knows that she can't kill Clarke, not after living without her for only a few hours and barely surviving. Clarke's words from last week play through her mind. 'Maybe life should be about more than just surviving.' Ever since Costia died, she had just been surviving, and she had just been trying to help her people survive. But now it was time for her to live for herself for once in her life, even if it was only for a few more minutes.

The stoic, tense face of the Commander slips and softens. "I'm sorry," she whispers.

* * *

Clarke stares into Lexa's eyes and sees the moment when Lexa realizes that she is holding a knife to her throat. Lexa tenses, and Clarke knows that she probably has a knife somewhere, so she tightens her grip on Lexa's shirt and presses the knife closer to her skin, almost drawing blood. She hopes that this will discourage her from making any moves.

When Lexa relaxes, Clarke nearly smirks in triumph, but can't find anything in her but pain. No anger, not anymore, and no feeling of victory at having bested the Commander. Just pain at what they had come to, what their relationship had come to.

"I'm sorry," breaks the silence, and Clarke can barely believe she heard it. Her eyes widen in shock, and she freezes.

"I never meant to turn you into this, to turn _us_ into this. You were right, _Klark_ , life is about more than just surviving, and I'm only truly alive when I'm with you. I won't live without you again, not even for a moment." Clarke hears Lexa click the 'k' in her name, now realizing that it comes from the Trigedasleng pronunciation. Suddenly, Lexa's next words process in her brain. She wrinkles her brow, trying to find the anger that had driven her only hours earlier, but it's gone. Clarke's lip starts quivering, and she bites it in an attempt to stop it. Her eyes start watering but she refuses to acknowledge her tears, determined to stop them from spilling over.

Clarke hears something hit the counter next to Lexa, and turns to see Lexa's slowly placing another knife from Clarke's dress there. She hadn't even felt Lexa take it. "You want it?" She asks Clarke with a raised eyebrow. "It's yours."

Clarke can't answer, and takes a step back, releasing her hold on Lexa. She stares into Lexa's eyes, emotions swirling and entirely unsure.

Clarke watches as Lexa sinks to her knees on the kitchen floor littered with bullets, food, and shards of glass. As if she was in medieval times, Lexa bows her head and tells her, "I swear fealty to you, Klark Kom Skaikru. I vow to treat your needs as my own, and your people as my people."

Clarke doesn't know what to say. She just had her opportunity to kill the Commander and save her people, to get revenge on the woman who betrayed her, and she couldn't do it. Now, Lexa was literally on her knees before her, completely at her mercy. The woman she had loved for the past five years... The woman she was still in love with. There's only one more thing she needs to hear. "If you betray me again…"

Lexa's eyes shoot back up to meet her own. "I won't."

Clarke holds out her hand to help lift Lexa up, knowing how injured she is, and Lexa takes it. Blue eyes stare into green, and Clarke drops the knife as she surges towards Lexa so that she can wrap both hands around Lexa's neck and _kiss_ her.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Lexa had whispered, but she had to keep going. Swallowing, she continues in a louder but still hushed voice. "I never meant to turn you into this, to turn _us_ into this. You were right, _Klark_ , life is about more than just surviving, and I'm only truly alive when I'm with you. I won't live without you again, not even for a moment."

Lexa watches as Clarke absorbs her words and tries to process them. She knows that it's a lot; she had tried to kill Clarke only hours ago and now she was confessing her love, but she realized that she had never stopped loving Clarke, even during her betrayal, and she never would. Lexa watches as Clarke's angry mask crumples, and all that is left is her heartbroken wife, a pain that she had caused.

When Clarke's lip starts to tremble, all Lexa wants to do is take it between her own and soothe it. When tears prick at Clarke's eyes, all she wants to do is wipe them away. But she knows that she doesn't deserve it. She might never deserve Clarke, but she would have spent the rest of her life trying to make up for what she had done to her.

Deciding that actions speak louder than words, Lexa slowly places the knife in her hand on the counter behind her. Clarke's eyes shoot to Lexa's own hand that is voluntarily disarming her, but Lexa doesn't care. She is finally free and living her life the way she _wants_ to, not how she _should_. She raises her eyebrow at Clarke playfully, feeling free at the death she thinks is coming, as she asks, "You want it? It's yours."

Lexa is surprised as the sensation of metal pressed against her neck disappears and Clarke steps back. Suddenly, she can't breathe because Clarke might forgive her and she does not deserve it. She doesn't know what gesture will prove to Clarke that she can trust her. Thinking back to what Clarke had said during their fight Lexa drops to her knees on the kitchen floor, ignoring the glass stabbing into her knees. Lexa bows her head, unable to meet Clarke's eyes. "I swear fealty to you, Klark Kom Skaikru. I vow to treat your needs as my own, and your people as my people."

All Lexa hears is, "If you betray me again…"

Lexa answers so quickly she almost cuts Clarke off. "I won't." She stares deeply into Clarke's eyes, willing her to see the truth in her own green eyes, knowing that it is the one place she could never hide from Clarke. Lexa thinks she is hallucinating when Clarke holds out her hand to help lift her up, but Lexa takes it. Green eyes never leave blue and Lexa hears the knife clatter to the floor as she steps towards Clarke and gently grabs her face so that she can finally _kiss_ her.

* * *

 **AN:** Next update will not come as quick as this one did, I need to take a breather. This chapter was already so long so there's no smut, but next chapter might have some! Leave a review if you want to tell me you hated it or loved it or anything in between!


	28. I Am Yours

**AN: Warning for graphic sex scene.** Enjoy ;)

* * *

They meet in a fiery clash, mouths open and lips pressed hard against the other's. Clarke digs her fingers into Lexa's neck as she tries to pull Lexa closer to her, opening her mouth to thrust her tongue into Lexa's mouth. Lexa meets Clarke's tongue with her own while she cups Clarke's face, thumbs swiping away the few tears remaining on her cheeks. After another moment of fiery kisses with Clarke, however, Lexa's gentle grip on Clarke's face turns firmer, trying to get as close to her as she can. Mouths open in harsh, panting breaths and tongues battle, seeking dominance over the other.

Clarke moves her hands from around Lexa's neck to her shoulders and starts pushing Lexa backwards, slamming her against the wall once again. Lexa's mouth opens in a gasp of pain and surprise, and Clarke uses the opportunity to explore Lexa's mouth. She runs her hands down Lexa's sides, soothing the pain sure to be coming from Lexa's ribs. Lexa shivers when Clarke's fingers trace the edge of her breast, and the next thing Clarke knows, Lexa's hands have moved down to grab her ass and rip Clarke's dress, exposing her thighs, and then she's bending her knees and urging Clarke up.

Lexa picks Clarke up and starts walking forwards, feeling Clarke's legs wrap tightly around her waist as she goes. They don't break the kiss, both fighting for control and neither willing to back down. Lexa takes one hand off Clarke's ass to sweep debris off the kitchen counter before setting Clarke down. The two part for a moment, panting for breath and staring into each other's eyes, until without warning they both come together once again in a passionate kiss. Clarke's hands tangle in the back of Lexa's wild hair as Lexa pulls Clarke's dress down, exposing her lace covered breasts. Lexa pulls back as several magazines fall out from between Clarke's breasts, but Clarke just tosses them to the side and pulls Lexa back in to continue their kisses.

Clarke gasps her pleasure into Lexa's mouth as Lexa's hands reach under Clarke's bra to grasp her breasts greedily, thumbs swiping over her nipples softly. Clarke bites Lexa's lower lip, not so gently but not enough to draw blood, and Lexa retaliates by pinching Clarke's nipple between two fingers. Needing more contact, Clarke kisses Lexa hard and when she's breathless, pushes Lexa back a few feet. Clarke hops off the counter and gives Lexa a lust filled grin as she pulls her dress over head, leaving her in just her bra and panties. Lexa's eyes go wide and Clarke stalks forward to give her an aggressive open-mouthed kiss, which she breaks to move on to Lexa's neck, sucking and biting in a spot that makes Lexa groan, surely leaving a mark. Clarke moves her lips to Lexa's earlobe, giving it a quick bite before turning and running into the living dining room.

Lexa barely hesitates before she takes off after Clarke, but just as she makes it into the dining room, she feels an arm snake around her waist, yanking her back and stopping her in her tracks. Lexa whimpers as Clarke slams Lexa's back flush to her front, placing gentle bites along the exposed line of Lexa's neck and shoulder. Lexa grinds her ass back into Clarke, and Clarke groans at the contact. Quickly, she spins Lexa around and starts tugging at her dress, trying to pull it over her head. Lexa lets out a soft laugh at Clarke's frustration, but is silenced as Clarke gives up and rips Lexa's dress so it falls to pool around her feet.

Lexa narrows her eyes and Clarke starts slowly backing up until her butt hits the dining table. Lexa stalks towards a cornered Clarke and picks her up, tossing her into the middle of the table. She freezes and her mouth goes dry at the image of Clarke spread over the dining table, her pale skin and hair contrasting against the dark wood.

Clarke props herself up on one elbow and crooks her finger at Lexa, giving her a cocky smirk as Lexa quickly scrambles onto the table after her. She grabs the back of Lexa's neck with her free hand and lets herself fall back, pulling Lexa fully on top of her.

Neither holds back in the kiss, tongue and teeth and lips clashing as Lexa fists one hand in Clarke's hair and trails her other hand around to undo Clarke's bra as Clarke wraps her other leg around Lexa's waist and both hands around her neck, lifting her back off the table in order to aid Lexa's efforts. The second she feels her bra unhook, Clarke falls back, breaking the kiss. She raises her arms above her head and Lexa groans as she uses both hands to slide Clarke's bra off.

Lexa pins Clarke's hands above her head with her right hand and lowers her head to kiss Clarke, but stops inches away. Instead, Clarke gasps as Lexa's left hand starts massaging her breast, and she moans as Lexa lowers her head and sucks on her other nipple. Clarke struggles against Lexa's hold, but Lexa only tightens her grip around Clarke's wrists. After another moment of delicious torture, Clarke can't take it anymore, and using her grip on Lexa's hips, she flips them over.

Clarke starts to frantically push at Lexa's bra, not bothering to undo it. Lexa helps Clarke yank her bra over her head and tangles her hands in Clarke's blonde hair, arching her chest up and pulling Clarke's head closer her. Clarke hovers over Lexa, releasing hot puffs of air over chest but refusing to touch her. Lexa growls at the teasing and Clarke lowers her mouth even closer as she sneaks her left hand down.

Lexa's breathing accelerates in anticipation, and just when Clarke's mouth looks like it is going to seal around her breast, she feels two fingers plunged into her underwear instead. Lexa arches towards the contact and cries out at the pleasant surprise.

Grinning with satisfaction, Clarke's mouth latches onto Lexa's nipple as she rubs circles around her clit. Lexa moans and digs her heels into Clarke's ass, urging her on. Clarke, however, slows down, and raises her head to give Lexa an evil grin. In retaliation, Lexa flips them over, topping Clarke once again.

Lexa pulls away from Clarke, causing Clarke to lose contact with her clit. Clarke is confused, until Lexa smirks at her and starts pulling down her own underwear. Clarke follows suit, lifting her butt off the table and wiggling her hips so she can slide her underwear off. Lexa's eyes widen and her movements to undress herself stop as she watches Clarke, who purposefully slows down her movements in a show for Lexa. Lexa glances up at Clarke's face and groans when she sees her bite her lip. Frantically, she kicks off her underwear and yanks Clarke's off too, causing Clarke to let out a laugh which Lexa silences with a kiss.

Lexa straddles one of Clarke's legs, and Clarke wraps the other around Lexa's waist and bucks her hips up, rubbing on Lexa's abs. When Lexa starts sucking on Clarke's neck, she groans and moves her hands from Lexa's hair to her back, pulling her body further onto her. Lexa reaches her hand down between her and Clarke's bodies to make contact with her clit, giving it a few circles before moving two fingers down to enter her, and in turn Clarke arches her thigh up, allowing Lexa to grind against it.

They thrust against each other frantically, mouths caught in a fiery kiss until that requires too much coordination and they just pant hotly into each other's mouths, chasing the finish line. Suddenly, Clarke's nails dig into Lexa's back, scratching down and making long, red furrows as she moans loudly in Lexa's ear. Lexa feels Clarke clench around her fingers, and seeing her face in a beautiful state of bliss tips her over the edge, and she bites down on Clarke's shoulder to muffle her own moan of pleasure.

Lexa collapses on top of Clarke, both breathing heavily. Clarke relaxes her grip on Lexa's back and starts rubbing soothing circles into it. After several moments, Lexa lifts her upper body off Clarke's and props herself up on one arm so that she can gaze into ocean blue eyes. She uses her free hand to cup Clarke's cheek, rubbing a soft circle there with her thumb. Clarke leans into the touch and sighs in contentment, closing her eyes in complete trust of the woman who had tried to kill her less than an hour ago. She smiles when she feels Lexa's forehead rest against her own, until she feels a drop of wetness on her face. Clarke's eyes shoot open to meet watery green, which stuns her.

"Clarke," Lexa whispers, eyes full of guilt and a tear rolling down her face.

"Shhhh," Clarke whispers. "I know."

Lexa swallows hard, trying to compose herself and failing. "Clarke… I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you. Until the day that I die, I will try to make up for this."

Clarke raises her eyebrow. "Do you ever talk about anything other than your death?" She lets a small smile grace her face to let Lexa know that she is joking before leaning up to press a soft, gentle kiss to her lips. Then, she slides out from under Lexa and rolls off the table, holding her hand out for Lexa to take. Lexa gives her a confused look, but takes Clarke's hand, allowing herself to be led upstairs to their bedroom.

Clarke stops in front of their bed and kisses Lexa softly, gently, the opposite of their frantic meeting only moments before. Lexa's hands go to Clarke's hips as Clarke gently cups Lexa's face, kissing her slowly and thoroughly.

When Clarke pulls back, her own eyes are watery as she looks at Lexa's forest green eyes. "I love you, Lexa."

Lexa's lower lip trembles and tears start flowing down her face. She doesn't deserve this, not after what she did, but there is no way she can stop herself. "I love you too, Clarke." She leans forward to kiss Clarke softly, pulling Clarke flush against her.

Clarke turns and directs Lexa backwards until her knees hit the bed. Lexa sits, and Clarke moves to straddle her, following Lexa up the bed as she slides until they are both laying fully on the bed with Clarke on top. Clarke resumes their kisses, trailing them across Lexa's jawline to her neck, down to her chest, kissing the bruises forming on her ribs and the various cuts and scrapes on her body. Every kiss and caress was an unspoken 'I love you, I forgive you.'

After Clarke had gently kissed every one of her injuries, Lexa softly pulls her head up, gently tracing the cut on her cheek. Clarke leans down to kiss Lexa gently, but then nips on her lower lip, startling her. Clarke then brings her hand to Lexa's mound, massaging downwards until Lexa whines.

Clarke chuckles at Lexa's impatience, but still moved her fingers lower, gathering wetness at Lexa's opening to spread around her clit, rubbing in soft circles. Clarke goes slow, changing patterns often, slowly building Lexa up. When it looks like she is about to burst, Clarke inserts two fingers and uses her thumb to rub Lexa's clit. Lexa's hand grabs the back of Clarke's head so that they can make eye contact, and Clarke watches as Lexa shatters under her ministrations. As Lexa relaxes, Clarke leans forward to softly kiss her lips, resting her forehead against Lexa's to hold her gaze.

Lexa sighs in contentment and uses one hand to play with the soft curls at the nape of Clarke's neck as she trails the other down Clarke's side, caressing her. When Clarke shivers at Lexa's touch, she places her hand on Clarke's lower back and gently flips them over, softly laying her body against Clarke's. She starts with a soft kiss to Clarke's lips, then the cut over her cheek, then her nose, then her eyes, then her forehead, and then continues across her body, cataloguing each of Clarke's injuries. Each kiss was an unspoken 'I'm sorry, I love you.'

After she returned to place one more kiss on Clarke's lips, Lexa smoothly slides down Clarke's body, not stopping until she has reached her goal. Lexa uses her tongue to make tantalizing circles on Clarke's hips until Clarke whines pleadingly, and Lexa rewards her instantly by quickly licking one broad stroke up Clarke's cunt.

Clarke lets out a high pitched yell at the pleasure Lexa is giving her, spreading her legs apart as far as she can to open herself up even more. When Lexa starts sucking on her clit, she can't stop her hips from bucking up, and Lexa is forced to pin them to the bed with her arm. Without warning, Lexa enters her with two fingers, and Clarke loudly cries out her pleasure.

Lexa starts moving her fingers in and out as she continues lashing Clarke's clit with her tongue, grinning at the sounds Clarke's wetness is creating. Clarke's hands are on her head, urging her on, and when her moans change to a higher pitch Lexa knows she is close. She curls her fingers up and sucks on her clit harder, until Clarke screams and Lexa feels Clarke's walls start to contract around her fingers. She slows and gentles her movements, helping Clarke ride out her high.

Clarke is still breathing from her orgasm when she uses her hands to pull Lexa up her body, wanting to be close to her as she comes down from her high. Lexa kisses her gently, and Clarke opens her mouth, tasting her release on Lexa's tongue. She moans as she strokes Lexa's tongue with her own, mouth wide as she tries to catch her breath and kiss Lexa at the same time. Lexa chuckles at Clarke's conflict, and Clarke pulls back to pout at her.

Lexa smiles sweetly at Clarke, apologizing with a quick kiss. Then she whispers, "I am yours."

Clarke rolls them onto their sides so that they can lie face to face. She tangles their legs together and wraps one arm around Lexa as Lexa wraps both arms around her. Clarke uses her other hand to cup Lexa's cheek as she whispers, "And I am yours."


	29. A Brief Interruption

**AN:** Back to the Clexa chapters! :D

* * *

After dozing for a few minutes, Clarke wakes up with Lexa in her arms and smiles widely into Lexa's wild brown curls. The _Commander_ is her little spoon. Clarke tightens her grip around Lexa's waist and nuzzles against her back, but her small movements are enough to wake Lexa.

"Five more minutes, Clarke." Lexa mumbles sleepily.

Clarke giggles and starts tracing circles around Lexa's stomach, trailing lower and lower. Clarke feels Lexa stiffen in her arms in anticipation, but Clarke moves her fingers back up and away from where she knows Lexa wants her touch.

Lexa huffs in frustration and rolls over, propping herself up on her right arm so that she can look down at Clarke. "Minx." Lexa growls at her, bending down for a kiss, but Clarke turns her head at the last second so that it lands on her cheek. Surprised, Lexa pulls back, gazing at Clarke in confusion.

Clarke's face turns serious as she looks up at Lexa. "Lexa, I know we didn't really talk earlier, about what this would mean, but… we should. You know I love you, I won't abandon my people. I have to protect them."

Lexa cups Clarke's cheek with her free hand. "I understand, Clarke. Your people will be safe, as I vowed they would be. As soon as I go back to Polis, I will make steps to induct them into the Coalition. Then your people can become my people."

Joy fills Clarke's eyes and she seductively bites her lower lip. "Well I guess we don't have to talk after all."

Smiling, Lexa rolls the rest of the way over to straddle Clarke and kiss her deeply, trailing one hand down her side as Clarke brings her hands up to cup the back of Lexa's neck.

Before they can progress any further, however, the doorbell rings, breaking them apart. Clarke looks at Lexa in confusion. "Who could be here at this time of night?"

"I'm not sure…" Suspicious, Lexa rolls off Clarke and grabs a T-shirt from Clarke's drawer and slips it on along with a pair of black underwear. While she's in her underwear drawer, she grabs the gun from the bottom of it.

When Clarke sees Lexa arming herself, she grabs the top sheet and wraps it around her body. Reaching into the nightstand, she pulls out a Bible and opens it to reveal a hollow area with a knife, which she removes.

Lexa give Clarke a nod, and together they pad softly down the steps. They freeze halfway down when someone knocks loudly on the door.

"Police! Open the door!"

Lexa's eyes widen and Clarke starts swearing. "Shit shit shit, what do we do?"

Evidently, the police hear Clarke's whispers, because they knock again. "If someone doesn't open this door in five seconds, we are coming in."

Clarke pushes past Lexa and runs down the rest of the stairs, almost tripping on the sheet hanging around her legs. She slides up to the door and unlocks it, but only opens it wide enough to stick her head out.

"Hi officers, what can I do for you this evening?" Clarke asks nervously.

Lexa wants to smack Clarke for her suspicious behavior, but there is nothing she can do about it now.

"We have received several noise complaints this evening. One of your neighbors was convinced that they heard gunshots." One of the policemen tells her.

Clarke laughs nervously. "Gunshots? In this neighborhood? That's absurd."

The policeman doesn't break his stony face. "Either way, I'm going to need you to open the door so I can verify that all occupants are safe." He pulls out his notebook and flips it open, reading his notes. "It says here that you live here with your wife? Clarke and Alexandria Woods?"

Clarke swallows hard. "We're fine here, really. My wife is asleep upstairs. She's a lawyer and has an early trial tomorrow; I don't want to wake her.

Clarke's apparent reluctance to open the door makes the officer suspicious. "M'am, in cases where domestic violence is suspected, I'm obligated to come inside and check on everyone."

At his menacing look, Clarke realizes that she has no choice but to relent. She steps back and opens the door, revealing herself dressed only in the sheet with mussed hair. She blushes as the two officers stare at her in surprise with widened eyes, as there is no hiding what she had just been doing.

Realizing that the officers will search the house if they don't see her, Lexa bends down to set her gun down on the stairs and then stands up, holding her back straight as a board and her chin up. The officers' mouths drop as she descends the stairs and stalks confidently towards them, as regal as she can be in only a T-shirt and underwear and with numerous purple marks adorning her neck.

"As you can see, officers, everything is fine here." Lexa tells them with a stone faced look as she steps up behind Clarke to wrap her arms around her waist and press and open mouthed kiss to Clarke's neck.

At that moment, Mrs. Taylor steps out from behind the two officers. "Officers, I told you, it's their first time roleplaying, and it probably just got out of hand!"

The officers, clearly uncomfortable with this whole situation, avert their eyes and shift their weight from side to side.

Mrs. Taylor, however, just beams as Clarke and Lexa both turn bright shades of red. "Clarke, I shut your car off for you, it had been running for quite some time. I tried to warn you that you would forget." She holds out the keys for Clarke and shifts her gaze to Lexa to give her a thumbs up as she mouths 'good job.'

Completely flustered, Clarke reaches out to take the keys with the hand that is currently holding onto the knife. When the officers see it, they stiffen and move to draw their weapons.

Lexa, however, quickly steps out from behind Clarke and grabs the knife and stabs it into the nearest photo hanging in the entryway, which happens to be one of Clarke and Abby. She turns to the officers with a nervous laugh. "We were just, you know, doing some, redecorating?"

Trying to make the lie more believable, Clarke decides to add to Lexa's story. She grabs the knife and stabs another photo, a picture of Lexa and her board members standing in front of Polis Tower. "Yeah, some of our relatives recently expressed their… disapproval… of our lifestyle. I guess they could handle 4 years of knowing that we regularly have hot lesbian sex, but 5 years was just too much and they couldn't take it anymore. So we are literally cutting them out of our lives and doing some refurbishing around the house."

Lexa looks horrified at what Clarke has just said, and the two officers look so shocked and uncomfortable that they might pass out.

Mrs. Taylor, however, starts laughing. "Good for you, girls!" Turning to the two officers, she grabs their arms and starts walking them away from the door. "Have a _great_ rest of the night! And don't be afraid to call if you want to borrow any costumes for next time!"

Lexa steps around Clarke's frozen frame and closes the door, making sure to lock it. When she turns around to meet Clarke's eyes, she immediately starts laughing. "Did you really just say the words 'hot lesbian sex' in front of our neighbor? Wearing only a sheet with wild sex hair? She's like a grandmother!"

Clarke playfully shoves Lexa back against the door and starts laughing with her. "You're the one dressed in your underwear! You totally just tried to go all Commander while only wearing panties! And trust me, they could tell you weren't wearing a bra." Clarke licks her lips and stares at Lexa's chest where her hard nipples are clearly visible through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. Blushing, Lexa crosses her arms over her chest as her lower lip sticks out in a pout. Slowly, Clarke advances towards her, cooing, "awww my poor baby is embarrassed." Lexa huffs, and Clarke lowers her voice to a husky drawl. "I think I know something that could make it better."

Lexa's breath quickens, and when she turns her head towards Clarke, Clarke drops the sheet, leaving herself completely bare in front of her wife. Lexa swallows hard but doesn't hesitate to surge forward, grabbing Clarke's waist with one hand and her neck with the other, meeting her in a passionate kiss.

Clarke moans and slips her hands under Lexa's shirt, dragging her nails up her stomach until she can cup Lexa's breasts. Lexa groans into the kiss, and Clarke flicks Lexa's nipple, making her whimper.

Lexa trails her hand down from Clarke's waist to her thigh, lifting it up to drape it over her hip as Clarke slips her tongue into Lexa's mouth. Lexa slides her hand around to cup Clarke's ass, but when Clarke starts grinding against her, Lexa brings her hand forward to slip two fingers inside her wife.

Clarke squeezes Lexa's breasts hard when Lexa penetrates her, and Lexa moans at the stimulation. Lexa moves her fingers in and out of Clarke slowly, grazing her clit with her thumb only occasionally. Frustrated with the teasing, Clarke breaks the kiss and trails her tongue along Lexa's jaw to her ear, biting the earlobe before she whispers, " _Commander_ , I need you to fuck me… Hard."

The effect on Lexa is instantaneous. The next thing Clarke knows, she is pinned against the wall in Lexa's arms as Lexa starts moving her fingers faster. "God, _Klark_." Lexa groans as she moves her fingers up to pinch her clit. Clarke's eyes close and her head falls back as Lexa moves her fingers back down, this time entering her with three fingers and thrusting harder and faster. When Lexa starts to feel Clarke's walls pulse around her fingers, she huskily pants, "Look at me Clarke."

Too close to her high, Clarke ignores Lexa, that is, until Lexa suddenly removes her fingers. Her eyes shoot open in anger, but she freezes when she sees the intense, commanding look on Lexa's face. "Look at me, Clarke. I want to watch you as you fall apart beneath me." Clarke can only nod, her blue eyes never leaving green. Lexa smirks, but moves her fingers back inside Clarke, who moans with pleasure. When Clarke's moans get louder, Lexa leans her forehead against Clarke's, never breaking eye contact as she whispers, "Cum for me, _Klark_."

Clarke explodes when Lexa says her name, calling out Lexa's name and several expletives as she shudders in Lexa's arms. When Lexa removes her fingers, Clarke almost cries at the loss. However, watching Lexa lick her juices off them is an acceptable trade-off. Lexa continues to hold Clarke, softly caressing her arms and sides as she peppers soft kisses across her shoulders and face. When Clarke's breathing has returned to normal, Lexa slowly lowers her back to the ground, giving Clarke a shy smile. "I love you, Clarke."

Clarke smiles and places a soft kiss to Lexa's lips. "I love you too. God, Lexa, that was hot. Why didn't you tell me about your Commander kink sooner?"

Lexa blushes and mumbles, "It's not a kink."

Clarke raises an eyebrow at Lexa. "Well then what would you call it? Because to me, that's a kink."

"I don't get off on people calling me the Commander, Clarke. That would be… inconvenient, seeing as how that's my official title in the office…" Lexa turns bright red again and she averts her eyes. "Just you. I like it when you call me that. It makes me feel… strong."

Clarke moves her hand to Lexa's cheek, turning her head back to face her. "That's sweet, Lexa." She places a peck on Lexa's lips, lingering centimeters away as she whispers to her. "But you don't have to be strong all the time. I'm here for you, if you need me."

Lexa lets out a deep breath and nods, her lips just grazing Clarke's. For another moment, they stand there together, foreheads pressed together and breathing the same air, until the circles Clarke is rubbing onto Lexa's hip slide under her panties and to her core. Lexa gasps as Clarke makes contact with her clit and starts rubbing soft, slow circles.

Clarke leans back into the wall, pulling Lexa with her. She tilts her head up for a kiss, and Lexa brackets Clarke's face with her arms as she braces herself against the wall to lean down and press a slow, languid kiss against Clarke's lips, tongues sliding slowly and softly together. Soon, Lexa is starting to tremble as Clarke starts rubbing her clit faster. "Let go for me, Lexa." Clarke whispers in between kisses. When Clarke slips one finger inside her, Lexa grabs onto Clarke's shoulders and sags into her, crying out a soft "Clarke" as she comes.

Clarke wraps her arms around Lexa's back, holding her steady as she comes down from her high. Shiny green eyes meet vibrant blue, and the two cling to each other as they continue to steal soft, loving kisses, completely wrapped up in each other.


	30. Clarke, Meet Lexa

Their intimate moment together is broken as a loud gurgle erupts from Lexa's stomach. She blushes as Clarke laughs at her, until Clarke's own stomach betrays her with its own loud gurgle. Lexa smirks and Clarke rolls her eyes, pushing Lexa off her to head into the kitchen. Lexa grabs Clarke's hand and interlaces their fingers, giving Clarke a small shy smile. Clarke squeezes back, and together the wives navigate through the broken furniture, shattered glass, and used bullets to make their way into the kitchen.

When they arrive in the kitchen, they are greeted with the sight of a blackened wall from the explosion and a fridge that will clearly need to be replaced, as there are many bullet holes peppering the door. On her way through the entrance, Lexa yanks the butcher knife that Clarke threw at her out of the wall and sets it reverently on the counter. Clarke rolls her eyes at Lexa's treatment of one of her 'precious' knives and makes her way to the fridge, trying to find something edible.

Lexa heads to the cabinets to find some glassware and plates, but almost everything has been shattered or cracked. She manages to find two glasses that are useable, but when she turns around to bring them to Clarke, she freezes. Clarke is standing in the light of the fridge, still completely naked, searching for food, hair messy and covered in bruises and cuts, and Lexa has never thought she has looked so beautiful. She sends out a silent thanks that she didn't lose the love of her life over her mistake.

Clarke pulls out two apples and a pitcher of water, pretty much the only things left edible in the fridge. When she turns around, she finds Lexa staring unabashedly at her. "What?" she asks as she blushes under Lexa's intense stare.

Lexa shakes her head and strides towards Clarke to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. "Ai hod yu in, _Klark_."

Clarke doesn't speak Trigedasleng, but by the adoring way Lexa is gazing upon her, she knows what Lexa is saying. "I love you too." Clarke sends Lexa big smile and leads her into the dining room. All of the chairs are broken, so she takes a seat on the table with her legs hanging down and gestures for Lexa to join her.

Lexa blushes but complies, handing Clarke a glass. "We are going to have to get a new dining room table."

Clarke pours a glass of water for herself and hands the pitcher to Lexa so that she can look it over. "It looks fine, surprisingly. I don't think there's a scratch on it."

Lexa waits until Clarke is in the middle of taking a sip of her water before she whispers to Clarke, "Yeah, but I will never be able to look at it without thinking about the fact that the stain in the middle of it isn't from a spilled glass of water, but from you cumming on it."

Clarke promptly spits out her water and shoots Lexa a dirty glare. As Lexa starts giggling, Clarke rolls her eyes and throws an apple at her, which she promptly catches. "I seem to remember you cumming too, so don't pretend like that was just me."

Lexa smugly bites into her apple and Clarke playfully punches her in the arm. "Hey!" Lexa cries out, feigning pain. "Be careful, I've dislocated this shoulder three times."

"Don't be such a baby, Mrs. Woods." Clarke holds up her right hand, making the OK sign with her thumb and index finger, holding the rest of her fingers up. "You're lucky I'm left handed, because I can't feel anything in these three fingers."

Lexa grins and leans over to suck on Clarke's fingers. She releases them with a wet pop, raising her eyebrows at Clarke. Clarke shakes her head back and forth with a smirk and Lexa rolls her eyes and goes back to eating her apple. "What other battle scars do you have Mrs. Woods?"

"I've broken probably all my ribs twice, sprained both my angles parachuting gone wrong, had 137 stitches over the years, all of which were put in by my mom…" Clarke trails off with a laugh. "I am waaaay to old for my mother to be seeing me naked, but one time shrapnel hit me in the ass and she was the doctor on call…" Lexa doesn't laugh along with Clarke. When Clarke sees the serious look on her face, she puts her hand on her thigh. "What's wrong babe?"

Lexa covers Clarke's hand with her own and squeezes desperately. "All those times you could have died, and it would have been my fault."

Clarke grabs Lexa's chin and turns her head so that she can look into your eyes. "I'm right here, OK? We didn't know. We both have dangerous jobs, but now we can work together. Besides, I'm sure you have had many close calls before, haven't you?"

Lexa's eyes goes blank as she starts thinking. "I need glasses."

Clarke looks at Lexa in confusion and gestures with the hand holding her apple for her to continue as she takes a sip of water.

"I had damage to my eyes after some particularly vigorous flash bangs. I had surgery, but I still need glasses to see far away."

"Why have I never seen you wear them?"

Lexa looks shyly away. "They are embarrassing. I wear contacts so you won't see."

"Awww Lex! I bet you look so cute in glasses! I want to see them! But that's not what I was talking about. What is this scar here, on your stomach?" Clarke moves her hand to trace the jagged, 4-inch scar on her abdomen.

Lexa sighs. "I got that while training."

Clarke looks at her in confusion. "Training? With _what_?"

"Every child who trains with us is assigned a _Fos_ , a warrior who is experienced and can teach them. Anya was my _Fos_. As part of her training, she used to throw knives at me and I would have to catch them. When I was proficient at that, she would make me stand on a balance beam 10 feet off the ground and dodge knives she threw at me. One time, she threw a knife that I dodged, but I lost my balance, and she had already thrown the second one. It hit me in the stomach, and instead of stitching me up so that I wouldn't have a scar, Anya left me with one so that I would 'have a reminder of my mistake next time I decided to be clumsy." Lexa lets out a chuckle, but suddenly she freezes. "Oh shit… Anya." Without another word, she jumps up and runs to the living room and starts frantically dialing a number on the phone.

Confused, Clarke follows her at a slower pace. "Lexa? What's going on?" Lexa waits anxiously for Anya to answer her phone, but when she doesn't, she quickly redials it. Lexa still hasn't answered her and Clarke is starting to worry, so she grabs Lexa's bicep in a firm grip. "Lexa, what is going on?"

As the phone continues to ring, Lexa tells Clarke, "When I found out you were alive… I told Anya to capture Raven. I also have people watching Octavia and your mother. I thought we were going to war and would need what we could find out…"

Lexa is cut off as someone groggily answers the phone. "Hello?" They half mumble.

Lexa is confused. She knows she dialed Anya's number, but this isn't her speaking. "Where's Anya?"

The person on the other end of the phone yells "Oh shit!" loud enough for Clarke to hear. Clarke quickly snatches the phone from Lexa and shouts into it.

"Raven! You're OK! Wait, why are you answering Anya's phone?"

Raven groans, clearly not all the way awake. She manages to slur out, "Clarke? Was that Lexa talking? I thought you were gonna kill that bitch." Raven lets out a groan and Clarke looks at Lexa in concern. Lexa presses the button to put the phone on speakerphone just as another groggy voice comes through the phone.

" _Wanheda_ , if you have harmed one hair on _Heda's_ head, I will cut off every one of your fingers, then your toes, then I will rip your intestines out through your mouth as I slowly…"

Raven's snarky voice cuts Anya off. "That's going to be hard when you can't even move to get off from on top of me."

Clarke and Lexa look at each other in complete confusion. "Raven, what is going on? Are you all right?"

Lexa decides to voice her confusion as well. " _This bitch_ is still alive, Raven. What is going on? Is Anya alright?"

"Heda, you are alive!" Anya yells happily through phone. Then Anya grumbles, "And so is that _branwada_. I wish I could say this is a pleasant surprise, but it's not."

Raven chimes in as well. "I'm guessing the killing each other thing didn't go as planned, eh Clarkey?"

Clarke rolls her eyes. "I told you not to call me Clarkey!"

Lexa smirks at Clarke and then addresses Anya. " _Onya_ , I'm not sure what is going on over there, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know. Stand down and wait for my command. We are going to induct the _Skaikru_ into the Coalition. _No jus drein no jus daun_. I'm going to call Indra and Gustus, meet me in the office at noon. Oh, and explain what's going on to Raven."

Before Anya can protest, Lexa hangs up and starts dialing Indra's number. Clarke raises her eyebrow, at her. "What does _branwada_ mean?"

Fortunately, Lexa is saved from answering by Indra's voice. " _Heda_ , I have been trying to get in contact with you all evening, Lincoln and Octavia were running, so we captured them…"

Clarke growls into the phone. "I swear if you have harmed them there will be nothing that will stop you from feeling the wrath of _Wanheda_."

Yelling can be heard from the background, and Indra gasps. " _Wanheda_ is still alive?"

"Yes, Indra, my wife is alive and well. I need you and Ryder to free Octavia and Lincoln. We are going to make peace with the _Skaikru_."

" _Skaikru_? They have killed too many of us over these past few years! They killed Tris only a few months ago! How can you do this? Lexa, the people won't accept it. _Polis_ won't accept it. _Titus_ won't accept it."

Lexa growls. " _Titus_ is my subject. They are _all_ my subjects. Are you saying that they would willfully defy their _Heda_? Will _you_ defy me?"

Clarke shivers at the commanding tone Lexa has taken on. After a moment, Indra slowly replies, "No _Heda_ , I will not."

"Good. Put Octavia on the phone. I think the only thing that would prevent her from attacking you is speaking to Clarke."

While Indra walks over to place the phone against Octavia's ear, Clarke wraps her arms around Lexa's waist and pulls her flush against her. "That was hot, _Heda_." She whispers into her ear, eliciting a fully body shiver from Lexa. Clarke bites Lexa's ear, but is forced to release it so that she can reply to Octavia.

"Clarke, are you there?"

"Yeah, O, I'm fine. Everything's going to be fine. Lexa is going to protect us, and Indra is going to let you go. You have to promise not to attack her, OK? We are on the same team now."

Octavia starts grumbling but finally whines, "Fiiiiiine, I won't kill her."

Clarke is going to say something else, but Lexa hangs the phone up. "I still need to call Gustus, remember?" She dials quickly, and he picks up on the first ring, his deep voice laced with concern.

" _Heda,_ is everything all right?"

"Yes, Gustus, everything is fine. I will explain it to you better later, but Clarke and I are going to make peace. You can stand down, leave Abby Griffin alone."

" _Wanheda_ is alive?" Gustus is shocked, but then he grumbles. "And you made me watch her mother all night, who by the way, spent the entirety of it having sex with that Marcus guy we suspect is on the Council? And you're telling me it was all for nothing because we are making peace with them? With the people who killed 300 of our warriors mere months ago?"

Clarke nearly chokes as she screeches, "What?! My mother is sleeping with Marcus Kane?"

Lexa starts laughing, and Gustus hangs up in disgust. Clarke shoves Lexa and storms out of the room and upstairs to their room. "This isn't funny, Lexa! She didn't even tell me!"

Lexa, still laughing, catches up to her wife and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I would hope your mother didn't tell you every time she had sex, Clarke. She is a grown woman."

Clarke shoots Lexa a glare and turns her back to stare at a picture on top of her dresser. Realizing that Clarke is genuinely upset, Lexa walks up behind her and wraps her arms tightly around her wife, putting her chin on her shoulder. When Lexa sees that Clarke is staring at a picture of her, her father, and her mother from many years ago, she turns Clarke around and cups her face, wiping away the few tears rolling down her face.

"Marcus Kane will not replace your father. Nobody can. But your mother deserves to be happy, doesn't she?"

Anger flashes across Clarke's face, followed by pain, and she steps more fully into Lexa's embrace, laying her head on her chest and clinging to her as she starts to cry more. "No she doesn't."

Confused, Lexa can only stand there and mumble sweet nothings into Clarke's hair. When she finally settles down, Lexa pulls away to look at into her shiny blue eyes. "Tell me, _niron_."

Clarke swallows hard, knowing that Lexa can finally hear the truth of what happened to her father. "I know I told you he died in a car accident, but that's not true. For years now, our company has been losing the war against you and the Mountainmen. And when my father found out how truly depleted our forces were, he wanted to tell the whole company and send everyone into hiding. Of course, the Company couldn't allow that to happen, so the Council sent him on a mission before he could say anything. They purposely gave him bad intel and he was killed. Then they started recruiting younger agents from colleges. When my mom finally told me about the Company, of course I decided to join, as did many of my friends. I _wanted_ to help in the war against the people who had killed my father. Then one day, my friend Wells used his father's password to access restricted files so that we could track down those responsible for his death. I read the report, and my mother has been on the Council for years…" Clarke starts crying again, and Lexa soothingly rubs her hand over her back. "I try to be civil with her, but it's so hard. But I know that my dad wouldn't want to me to throw our relationship away, so I try."

Lexa sighs and continues to comfort Clarke. Now that Clarke has opened up to her about her past, Lexa knows she must rectify the lie she told Clarke years ago. "I know I told you about… about Costia, years ago."

Clarke lifts her head off Lexa's chest to gaze up at her wife, sensing that she is going to reveal something important to her as well.

Lexa meets Clarke's eyes as she speaks. "Costia wasn't murdered by a random mugger. Before I had formed the Coalition, about a year after I became Heda, she was captured by the Ice Nation, whose Queen thought that she knew my secrets. I came home late from the office one night, and found her head in my bed." Lexa fights back her tears, trying to remain stoic, but Clarke can still see the pain in her eyes. "Instead of retaliating, I fought to form the Coalition. The Ice Nation was the last to join, by force. Too many lives had been lost, I couldn't let it continue."

Clarke leans up and presses a chaste kiss to Lexa's lips, then leads her to the bed. They lay down facing each other, arms and legs intertwined, remembering their loved ones and taking comfort in each other's presence. Lexa looks like she is about to fall asleep, so Clarke starts tracing her face with her fingers, moving softly and slowly over her lips, cheeks, eyes, and nose. Since they are being so honest with each other, Clarke decides to ask Lexa one more question. "Do you ever have trouble sleeping after?"

Lexa's eyes slowly blink open, taking in Clarke's question. "After killing someone? Or sending someone to die for me?"

"Either. Both. I don't know…"

Even though they are almost the same age, Lexa knows that Clarke doesn't have the same level of responsibility in her company as Lexa does. And while that will most likely change very soon, she knows that Clarke has not been trained from such a young age like she has. Her sweet Clarke does not quite have the ruthless _Natblida_ blood that flows through her veins. "I bear it so my people don't have to." Lexa cups Clarke's cheek with her hand, her green eyes meeting blue. "You were born for this Clarke. Same as me. Together, we will start a new era of peace between our people. I will induct you as the 13th Clan, then we will eliminate the Mountainmen. The only way we have to avenge those we lost is by making their lives count. Your father would be so proud of you, Clarke, and I know that you will continue to make him proud."

Clarke leans forward and presses a soft, slow kiss to Lexa's lips. "Thank you. I know that Costia would be proud of you too." She slides her hand up to Lexa's hand that is cupping her cheek and intertwines their fingers, squeezing hard. "Together."

Lexa squeezes back. "Together."

Just as Lexa is leaning in for another kiss, something smashes through the window of their bedroom. They both sit up, ready to attack, when red smoke starts to fill the room.

They immediately jump out of bed and grab the closest clothing and weapons they can find. Lexa slips on a pair of shorts and picks up a knife and her handgun, and Clarke slips on sweatpants and an oversize T shirt and grabs a nearby grenade and another gun. "Mountainmen? How did they find us?"

Lexa yanks Clarke down as red lasers start showing through the windows, and growls angrily, "There are traitors among us."

Together they crawl to the door of the bedroom and peek out. Seeing no one, Lexa starts making complicated hand signals at Clarke. Clarke starts making her own hand signals back, but Lexa does not seem pleased, scrunching up her nose and gesturing more forcefully. When Clarke hears glass smash and the quiet murmur of voices, she ignores Lexa and drags her downstairs as fast as she can. Seeing a man entering the front door, Clarke throws a knife at him, hitting him right in the throat. Lexa tugs Clarke towards the basement door, pushing her through and throwing her knife at a man entering from the kitchen door, hitting him in the eye.

Lexa quietly closes the door and sprints down the stairs after Clarke, finding her going through boxes looking for weapons. Looking up in distress, she whispers, "You didn't hide anything down here? In the most stereotypical hiding place?"

Lexa smirks and walks over to the pool table, sliding under it and opening a secret compartment, revealing several machine guns, more throwing knives, and some grenades. They quickly take them all, shoving whatever they can into pockets. Just as they load up, they hear the door open and they raise their weapons, training them on the door. A robot appears and drops a small, silver object down the stairs, which Clarke kicks into the farthest corner, which happens to be near the large container of gasoline Lexa had her forced her to buy to feed their generator in case the power ever went off. Looking at Lexa with fearful eyes, she yells, "Run!"

Lexa shoots out the small window, leaving no glass remaining, and jumps up, diving through it and heaving herself the rest of the way up. Holding one hand back for Clarke, she helps her up as she starts shooting anyone she sees. Yells increase, and men start to converge on them from all sides.

Clarke ignores the rain of bullets and takes off running away from the house, closely followed by Lexa. Seconds later, a huge explosion knocks them off their feet, completely obliterating their house and the majority of their enemies.

Lexa looks up just in time to see a large, burning beam of wood smash the Ferrari. "Not the Ferrari…" She moans.

Clarke, however, immediately grabs Lexa and starts running. "We need a car. Let's take the neighbors."

They hop the fence and smash the window to the garage. Luckily, the door is unlocked, and Clarke starts hot-wiring the car. Lexa starts rummaging through the boxes, and finds a pair of purple Crocs and an old pair of work boots. She grabs a baseball bat just in case and hops in the passenger side door, tossing Clarke the Crocs.

While Lexa is sliding on the work boots, Clarke pauses and whines, "Why do I have to wear the tacky shoes." Lexa raises her eyebrows at her in a 'really?' gesture and Clarke nods her head, so Lexa begrudgingly gives Clarke the work boots and puts the Crocs on.

As soon as she has her boots tied, Clarke grins and slams on the accelerator, smashing through the garage door in reverse. Lexa throws out her arms to stop herself from flying forward and gives Clarke a glare.

"The summer before college, I didn't work for my mother like I told you. Raven and I went to Europe and we flirted with men so we could drive their fast cars."

Lexa groans. "Why am I not surprised."

Clarke grins at her and quickly turns the car around. "Should I stop being honest and go back to lying to you?"

Lexa rolls her eyes and huffs, as she sees a man running towards them. "No, don't be absurd. Since we're being honest, I didn't go to law school at Yale."

Clarke gasps in shock and steps on the accelerator, slamming hard into the man. Lexa jumps out and takes his weapon off him, shoots him with it, checks his pockets, and then runs back to the car. Before she can put on her seatbelt, Clarke accelerates, slamming Lexa back into her seat. The car bumps twice as Clarke rolls over the dead man, but she doesn't even slow down. "So you're telling me you never went to law school but still passed yourself off as a lawyer all these years?"

"No, I didn't say that. I didn't go to _Yale_. I went to Harvard, but I got sick of all the Elle Woods jokes I would get when people found out I went to Harvard and my last name was Woods, so I just tell people I went to Yale instead."

Clarke rolls her eyes and turns out onto their street, driving as fast as possible to get away from any pursuers. "Lexa, that's a bad one. You're supposed to tell me something I don't know or that you _really_ lied about."

Lexa looks at Clarke in confusion. "I did lie about that though."

Clarke just leans over and plants a kiss on her cheek. "You're cute. Now make sure no one's following us."


	31. Evasive Driving

**AN:** Sorry for the delay, real life got in the way and I started another fic, which actually helped my creative juices flow when I wrote this one! This chapter was my favorite to write so far, so I hope you enjoy it! Only a couple chapters left now :(

* * *

After a few tense moments of driving in circles, making sharp turns, and accelerating through several red lights, Lexa is confident that they aren't being followed. She had been thinking about what Clarke had told her about telling the truth, and she thought that she finally had a good one.

"Clarke?" Lexa says hesitantly, still not quite sure how her wife will take this.

"Yeah babe?" Clarke lazily takes her eyes off the road and glances over at her wife.

"I hated that new painting you put in the living room." Clarke looks at her, clearly insulted, so Lexa hurries to add, "I mean, I still like it, of course, but I much prefer the ground to the sky."

After a moment of thought, Clarke smiles sweetly at Lexa. "You know what? So do I. The ground is much better than the sky." Lexa smiles back at Clarke, glad that she took that so well. As Clarke happily steps on the accelerator, she turns on the radio and flips to her favorite station and Taylor Swift's voice sings out from the radio.

" _I wish we could go back,_

 _And remember what we were fighting for._

 _And I wish you knew that I miss you too much to be mad anymore._

 _And I wish you were right here, right now, it's all good._

 _I wish you would_."

Upon recognizing the lyrics, Lexa reaches over and turns the volume up. Clarke gives her a disbelieving look, but Lexa only smiles and starts singing along to the lyrics. "What? You like Taylor Swift?" Lexa smiles and starts singing louder, causing Clarke to groan.

" _You always knew how to push my buttons._

 _You gave me everything and nothing._

 _This mad mad love makes you come running,_

 _To stand back where you stood._

 _I wish you would, I wish you would._

 _I wish you would, I wish you would."_

"Since when do you like mainstream pop, Lexa? Half the time I get in your car and classical music is playing."

Lexa grins and winks at Clarke. "Just part of my cover sweetheart."

Clarke rolls her eyes as Lexa starts dancing in the passenger seat, although her movements are limited by her seatbelt.

Having enjoyed singing to the song enough times with Raven and Octavia, Clarke joins in, which coaxes a big smile from Lexa.

" _2 AM, here we are,_

 _See your face, hear my voice in the dark._

 _We're a crooked love in a straight line down._

 _Makes you wanna run and hide,_

 _But it made us turn right back around."_

Lexa continues singing and Clarke stops to think over the next few lines. For the next portion of the song, Clarke decides to change the lyrics up a bit and makes sure to sing louder than Lexa.

" _I wish we could go back,_

 _Wish you never tried to kill me like you did._

 _I hope you know that I'll never let you live that down as long as I live._

 _But I'm glad you're right here, right now, it's all good._

 _I wish we could_

 _I wish we could go back,_

 _And forget what we were fighting over._

 _And I hope you know that, I love you too much to be mad anymore._

 _And I'm glad you're right here, right now, it's all good._

 _I love you Lexa Woods."_

Clarke stops singing to glance over at Lexa, who is looking at Clarke as if she is her salvation - the angel Lexa had described her as not too long ago. Clarke blushes under Lexa's intense, loving gaze, but she wants to make sure that they can move past this. "You're not a monster, Lexa, no matter what I said. We've both done things we regret, and I want to move past them. OK?"

Lexa nods and leans over to press a quick kiss to Clarke's cheek. Clarke grins and turns her attention back to driving. She quickly glances in the rearview mirror and spots an all black Dodge Charger following them. Clarke hopes it's not an unmarked police car, because they stole a _minivan_ and wouldn't be able to outrun it. Unfortunately, two identical cars pull out from behind it, taking up all 3 lanes on the highway, blocking anyone from passing them. "Shit Lex, I think the police are following us."

Seeing Clarke's frown, Lexa checks the rearview mirror. "No, it's the Mountainmen."

"How do you know?" Clarke asks, pressing on the accelerator and swerving around cars.

Lexa turns down the volume and unbuckles her seatbelt to climb into the backseat. "The windows are tinted too dark to be a police car." Lexa moves into the back seat to start folding the seats up, but she is thrown back there as Clarke swerves. Landing with a huff, she shoots Clarke a glare and moves their neighbor's dry cleaning out of the way so she can fold the seats down. After being slammed against the side for the third time, she can't hold her anger in anymore. "Clarke! You have to hold steady!"

"It's called evasive driving sweetheart!" Clarke yells back, too focused on the road to look back at Lexa.

"Well I need you to hold still!" Lexa grumbles and reaches up to the front seat to press the button for the trunk, forcing it to open and spill out a bag of children's hockey equipment onto the highway. Bullets start hitting the back and side of the car, and Clarke's driver side window shatters. Lexa fires back a few bullets from the open trunk, but her aim is thrown off by Clarke swerving around.

"This thing is all over the place, why would anyone want one of these?" Clarke pouts as half the car swerves onto the shoulder.

One of the cars slams into them from behind, slamming Lexa's face against the window. "Clarke!" Lexa shouts as she sweeps her windblown wild curls from her face and crawls her way back up into the front seat. She quickly closes the trunk and pants out, "Clarke honey, let me drive."

"I'm fine! I got this."

Lexa rolls her eyes at how stubborn Clarke is. "Clarke, you will get plenty of time to drive a minivan around when we have kids. Now move so you don't kill us."

Clarke's jaw drops as she looks at Lexa, forgetting that they are in a high-speed chase. "You want kids?"

Lexa's eyes widen as she realizes what she said, and she blushes and starts stammering. "I mean, we have to get your mother to like me somehow, right? I was always worried it was too dangerous but after we induct you into the Coalition things should calm down. We don't have to if you don't want to, forget I said anything…"

Clarke grabs the back of Lexa's head and presses a hard kiss to her mouth. "Of course I want kids with you." The two smile dopily at each other until they are slammed by the car behind them again.

Lexa grabs the wheel with one hand and slides one leg between Clarke's legs. "Go." She tells her, and Clarke takes her foot off the accelerator and slides into the back seat as Lexa takes her place behind the wheel.

As Lexa steadies the car, Clarke grabs one of the guns and opens the side door, grabbing onto the handle and leaning out to start firing bullets at the windshield of the cars pursuing them.

Checking her side mirror, Lexa sees that none of Clarke's bullets have shattered the windshields. "They're bulletproof!" she yells back, but Clarke doesn't hear her over the wind and gunfire.

Clarke futilely fires several more bullets at the windshield, only leaving dents behind. "They're bulletproof!" She calls up to Lexa as she pulls herself back in the car and slides the side door shut. Lexa rolls her eyes and presses the button to open the trunk for Clarke.

Clarke starts firing out the open trunk, but she has no real target since the cars are armored. A rain of bullets flies through the trunk at her, and she ducks down. Clarke reloads her gun, and finds that their ammunition is rapidly being depleted. Their odds are not looking great, so Clarke decides that she should probably get whatever else she needs to off her chest.

"Lex…" Lexa looks in the rearview mirror, hearing the seriousness of Clarke's voice. Physically she is fine, so she waits for Clarke to say more. "I never told you, but I was married once before."

Lexa's face does not show any emotion, she just abruptly slams on the brakes hard, taking Clarke off guard and throwing her to the front passenger seat. Their back tires squeal, and the car tailing them rams into them, sliding under the back part of the car and pushing them down the highway. Clarke hits the dashboard hard and slumps against it. She looks over at Lexa in shock, but is met with Lexa's open hand. Lexa slaps her face, and when Clarke moves her head out of the way, Lexa starts slapping whatever part of Clarke's body she can hit.

"Lexa, what the fuck? What is wrong with you?" Clarke yells, trying to evade Lexa's hits.

"You're what's wrong with me." Lexa growls.

Clarke shoves Lexa's hands away from her. "It was a one night stand! We were both drunk in Vegas and we got married. It was annulled the next day. It didn't mean anything!"

Lexa calms somewhat but still shoots daggers at Clarke. "Like that makes it better."

Clarke catches movement from the corner of her eye and moves into the back seat to intercept the man trying to climb into their car. "We'll talk about it later, OK?"

Clarke takes Lexa's growl to mean consent, and she quickly scrambles back into the back seat, picking up a golf club on the way. She steps onto the hood of the enemy car and whacks the man sticking his head out through the sunroof, and he slumps down into the car. Clarke pulls out one of the grenades she had grabbed from the basement and tosses it through the open sunroof, then vaults back inside the minivan. "Go, Lexa! Drive!"

Despite her anger, she still trusts Clarke, so she slams on the accelerator, vaulting them off the car behind them just as it explodes into a fireball. The other two cars tailing them swerve out of the way, and Lexa uses the brief lull to question Clarke. "What's her name and social security number?"

"Niylah, why do you… No, Lexa, you're not gonna kill her."

Lexa huffs and focuses on driving as the two remaining vehicles slam into her from both sides. Clarke can only hold on as Lexa swerves to one side then the next forcing one car off the road with her. They fly through construction barrels filled with water, splashing it all over. Unfortunately, they are now on the wrong side of the highway. Lexa continues to focus on swerving out of the way of traffic flying at her going 60 miles an hour while she flies at them going 80 and leaves Clarke to handle the approaching cars.

A man sticks his body out of the car as they pull up alongside the minivan, and Clarke quickly slides the far door open. When the man starts to enter the minivan, she simply drags him through and tosses him out the other side, where he is run over by his own team. Clarke grins. "These doors are handy, Lexa. We really need one of these in the future."

Clarke braces herself as Lexa swerves through a gap back onto the right side of the highway. When Clarke looks towards her wife, she sees that her jaw is still clenched in anger. "You know, sweetheart, you're being hypocritical. It's not like you're the epitome of truth either."

Lexa sighs and realizes that she has left out some major parts of her past. "The Coalition takes orphans and trains them to become the next _Heda_. They are called _Natblidas_ , or Night Bloods, because legend has it that they must come from darkness and nothing to be able to rule with logic and without emotions. Since I was 7 years old, I was trained to be the Commander, learning martial arts, politics, strategies, languages, weapons… Everything that would help me rule."

Clarke looks at Lexa in surprise. Lexa had refused to speak about her family, so she had never known what happened to them. Clarke fires off a few more bullets at the approaching car, but still listens to Lexa's story attentively.

"When the old commander dies or is killed, the _Natblidas_ fight to the death, with the winner becoming the new Commander." Clarke is horrified, but tries to hide her emotions from her face. She can tell from Lexa's expression that she isn't entirely successful, but Lexa continues to speak anyways. "The idea is that the one most skilled in combat and who is most able to separate their emotions will prevail, for they will have to kill the children who they grew up with and trained with for years. They will be able to best put their people first."

"So let me get this straight. You were taken from an orphanage, trained to be a killer, and then were forced to kill your closest friends?"

Lexa nods in affirmation and Clarke explodes. "What the actual fuck? That is the most barbaric thing I have heard! This explains soooo much now!"

Lexa frowns and tries to speak, asking, "Explains what?" but Clarke just continues her rant.

"When we join the Coalition we will be putting a stop to that practice. That is bullshit." Lexa looks like she is about to protest until Clarke glares at her. "That is nonnegotiable, Lexa."

Lexa sighs and grumbles "yes," knowing how much difficulty she is going to have to face to change something so fundamental to her culture. Clarke might as well have asked her to change _jus draun jus daun_.

Unfortunately, Lexa's aggressive driving has shot them past all the cars, and now they are alone on the highway with no cover. The remaining two vehicles are in hot pursuit, starting to catch up to them now that there are no cars for them to swerve around. Clarke pulls out a gun and trains it on them, but she can't get a good shot.

"You got them?" Lexa calls back, waiting for Clarke to take out the cars.

"I got them." Clarke yells, back still focusing on the cars and trying to aim.

"Any time now." Lexa yells, watching as the cars quickly approach, weapons sticking out of windows. After another moment of Clarke doing nothing, Lexa takes over.

Lexa swerves the car and slams on the brakes, spinning them around. Clarke grabs on as she almost flies out the two open doors. As they are turning, Lexa fires off three quick shots just above the tire of their attacker, causing the wheel to pop off and the car to lose traction and fly into the air. Now flying down the highway in reverse, Lexa aims for the grill of the second car, firing the last of her bullets into it, causing it to explode. The first car hits the second car, and they both start rolling through the air and flipping end over end.

Before Clarke has time to say anything, Lexa spins them around again and steps on the accelerator, sending them down the highway facing the right direction this time. Clarke watches as the two destroyed cars come to a rest far behind them, and she sighs before making her way to the front seat again, plopping down in it to watch Lexa, who is sporting a small smirk.

Clarke groans and puts her seatbelt back on. "We're going to have to redo every conversation we've ever had, aren't we?"

Lexa smiles cockily at Clarke and continues driving. "I believe in reincarnation."

Unable to take any more truths for the day, Clarke turns the radio back up, and Ariana Grande's voice blasts through the car.

 _"Nothing to prove and,_

 _I'm bulletproof and,_

 _Know what I'm doing._

 _The way we're movin' like introducing,_

 _Us to a new thing._

 _I wanna savor, save it for later,_

 _The taste of flavor, 'cause I'm a taker,_

 _'Cause I'm a giver, it's only nature._

 _I live for danger._

 _All that you got, skin to skin, oh my God,_

 _Don't ya stop, boy."_

Clarke glances over at Lexa who has a large smile on her face. Blue eyes lock on green, and they fly down the highway loudly singing along to the chorus.

" _Somethin' 'bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman._

 _Something' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout you,_

 _Makes we wanna do things that I shouldn't._

 _Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, something' 'bout."_


	32. Hukop

They make quite a sight as they walk into the diner. Lexa is wearing crocs, shorts, and one of her neighbors button up shirts, while Clarke is still in her baggy sweat pants, old faded T-shirt, and too big work boots. Not to mention that the two are sporting numerous cuts and bruises, despite their best efforts to clean the blood off themselves. As they pass the hostess stand, Lexa grabs several menus, and they seat themselves across from each other in the back at a large booth. As both women haven't eaten since the night before, they order as soon as the waitress comes by, ignoring the judgmental look she is giving them.

Just as they are finishing their order, the door bangs open, and Octavia struts in, followed by a reserved looking Lincoln and a grumpy looking Indra. Upon seeing Clarke, Octavia quickly rushes over and slides into the booth next to her, wrapping her in a hug. "Clarke! I'm so glad you're OK! I was worried when you called again and told us to meet you here." Clarke winces at Octavia's forceful treatment as her injuries make themselves known, and Octavia pulls back from the hug to give Clarke a once over. Noticing the cuts on her face, she turns to glare at Lexa who is quietly conversing with Indra in _Trigedaslang_. Lincoln, still nervous and resentful after having his life threatened earlier that day, takes a seat next to Octavia, eyeing Lexa and Indra warily.

"Hey!" Octavia shouts at them, interrupting their conversation. "What the fuck did you do to Clarke?"

Clarke goes to shush Octavia, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves, but Lexa answers before she can. "Do not worry, Octavia; she gave as good as she got." Lexa smirks and winks at Clarke, who only blushes. Octavia narrows her eyes at Lexa's answer, not sure if Lexa is talking about sex or fighting, and not wanting to know which. "Besides," Lexa continues, "look what you did to my General."

Octavia smirks, and Indra huffs, not wanting her black eye brought up. "Actually, that was my daughter, thank you very much. If it was _me_ who had gotten my hands on her, it would have been much worse."

Lexa looks at Indra in disbelief and Clarke snorts as she starts laughing. " _Aurora_ did that?"

Octavia beams proudly, holding out her hand for Lincoln to slap. He hesitates, but when Octavia raises her eyebrow at him, he returns her high five.

Upon seeing his worried nature, Lexa turns her attention to him. "I… apologize, Lincoln. It was not my intention to drag you or your family into this, but I was worried for the safety of the Coalition. Do not worry, you will suffer no repercussions, and the kill order has already been lifted. Soon, we shall induct the _Skaikru_ into the Coalition as the 13th clan, and all will be well. We shall have peace." Lincoln, Octavia, and Indra both look surprised, while Clarke just gazes at Lexa in adoration.

" _Heda_ , you cannot be serious! You said we were to make peace with them, which is going to be difficult enough, but now you want to induct them into the Coalition?!"

"Indra, we have been at war for too long. In joining with the _Skaikru_ , we will be able to join forces and defeat the Mountainmen. But once we have defeated them, do you think that peace will truly hold, after years of bad blood? The peace must be permanent, I will not allow myself to be on opposing sides from my wife again." Lexa smiles shyly at Clarke, and Clarke reaches across the table to take Lexa's hand and kiss it.

Indra unhappily mumbles " _Hodnes laik kwelnes_ ," but before Lexa can answer her, Octavia speaks.

"So you're saying we have to bow to you? You're going to rule us now, too?"

Clarke frowns, and glances to Lexa, who shifts uncomfortably. "While there will be no actual bowing, technically, yes. I am the Commander of all the clans, so I am in charge, but each clan has an ambassador involved in making all decisions. Mostly I allow the leaders of each of the clans to run them how they see fit. I am involved more in the overall picture than day-to-day."

"Well then count me out. You have been killing us for years, and now you just expect us to _hand over_ control to you? Just like that?"

"Octavia," Clarke tries to soothe her friend, but Octavia cuts her off with her ire.

"And what about you, Clarke? You're willing to hand over control of our people to _her_ , just like that? You're not the person I thought you were if you do. If she weren't your wife, you wouldn't even _consider_ this. She almost had Linc, our children, and I _killed_ today. Whose side are you on?"

Clarke is hurt by Octavia's words, but she squeezes Lexa's hand hard for comfort and confronts her friend. "I have been trying to make peace with the Coalition _before_ I knew that Lexa was the Commander. And Lexa is right; we need permanent peace, not just a treaty that no one will honor as soon as our mutual enemy - the only thing uniting us - is gone. Our company didn't _have_ to come here when it first started out, but it did, and entering their territory was one of the major reasons this war started. We are not innocent in this. As much as you may not want to admit it, this is the only way to save _all_ of our people without losing more lives, on both sides. _I_ trust Lexa, so trust _me_."

Lincoln chooses this moment to break his silence. "What happens when Lexa is no longer the Commander? Would you be willing to remain in the Coalition under another _Heda_?" Lexa's stoic mask falls upon her face once again, and Clarke freezes, unwilling to think of Lexa's death. "Lexa is already one of the longest lived _Hedas_ , and all is not entirely peaceful in the Coalition."

Lexa rubs soothing circles into the back of Clarke's hand as she turns her fierce gaze on Lincoln. "With the Mountainmen gone and the _Skaikru_ in the Coalition, I will be less of a target. The _Skaikru_ have powerful technology that can benefit everyone in the Coalition, and having their support should also help dissuade any attacks against me, especially with the support of _Wanheda_. However, if my fight does end…" Clarke looks up at Lexa with a horrified face, but Lexa continues on, "the Nightbloods will be loyal to the Coalition, as they have been taught. The _entire_ Coalition, including the _Skaikru_."

Lincoln seems to begrudgingly accept Lexa's answer, but Octavia is confused about these 'Nightbloods'. However, before she can question Lexa further, the noise of loud arguing draws their attention to the front door, where Raven and Anya appear.

"I told you we should have taken the bridge, look, everyone is already here." Anya glares at Raven and gestures to everyone already seated in the back booth.

Raven takes a step towards Anya and glares right back. "Next time, when you drive, you can pick which way we go. But the detour I took was most definitely faster, and if we took the bridge we would still be ten minutes away."

"There's not going to _be_ a next time, because I'm going to-"

" _Onya_ ," Lexa calls out, chastising her best friend and gesturing her to stop making a scene. Anya gives Raven one last glare before striding over to the table and sliding into the booth next to Indra.

Raven follows, grabbing a chair and pulling it up to the end of the table. As she sits, she shoots Anya a smirk, which is ruined by the wadded up napkin that hits her right between the eyes. Her head whips around to find a frowning Clarke.

"Raven…" Clarke warns her friend, and Raven holds up her hands and leans back into her chair, pouting.

Fortunately, the waitress chooses this moment to bring waters for everyone and take more orders. She leaves as soon as she is finished, eager to get away from the obvious tension at the table.

Raven is the first to break the silence. "Soooo, is that from fighting or fucking?" Raven gestures with one hand to the cut on Clarke's cheek and the hickeys trailing up Lexa's neck with the other. Clarke turns a bright red, and Lexa's eyes widen before her stoic look can return. Indra clenches her jaw, and Anya covers her face with her hand, while Lincoln looks surprised as Octavia glares at a laughing Raven.

"Raven…" Clarke hisses. "We called you here to talk about something serious, not to joke around."

Anya leans forward and steeples her fingers together in front of her, predatory eyes focused on Clarke. "Yes, _Wanheda_ , let's talk. In one day, _Heda_ has gone from trying to kill you to taking your entire people under her protection in the Coalition. Please, enlighten me as to how this occurred."

"Anya…" Lexa growls as she glares at Anya.

Anya ignores her, however, and continues staring at Clarke. "Our people have been at war for years, and suddenly we are just supposed to become allies? Sure, defeating the Mountainmen together is a worthy goal, but what comes after? With the Mountain gone, the Coalition was sure to become unstable, but add to that a peace with the _Skaikru_? The Coalition will fall, _Heda_ , and you will fall with it." Anya turns her gaze to Lexa, pleading with the woman who is not only her best friend but practically a sister to her. "I will not allow you to endanger your life like this. Make peace with the _Skaikru_ , and in a few years, _then_ induct them into the Coalition. _Beja, Leksa_ , do not make this move so rashly."

"My life is already in danger, _Onya_. Both of our lives are in danger. This morning, Clarke and I were attacked by the Mountainmen. Only a select few know the location of my home. There are traitors amongst us."

" _Azgeda_." Indra growls, her fists clenching in her lap.

"Az what?" Octavia frowns, looking around for an answer.

Anya answers, her distaste clear in her tone. "The Ice Nation. They are the most brutal of the clans and the last to join the Coalition. Nia has been pushing for more power for years. I have no doubt that this was her."

Raven's phone starts buzzing violently, and she quickly pulls it out to silence it, but freezes when she sees it. "Clarke, you've got a problem. The Company… They put out a hit on you."

"What?" Clarke yells, and Octavia quickly pulls out her phone to double check.

"She's right, Clarke. The system automatically does it though, since you were ID'd on the last hit. I'm sure as soon as your Mom sees it, she will put a stop to it."

Clarke sighs, and types out a quick message to her mom, hoping that she has stopped fucking Kane long enough to check her phone.

"I think it would be best if you two split up." Indra declares, daring the two women to argue. " _Heda_ , you should return to Polis and deal with Nia. She wants to declare war on the _Skaikru_ , which evidently cannot happen. And Clarke has her own kill order to take care of. You can be of no assistance to her, they will kill you on sight."

"No." Lexa's grip on Clarke's hand tightens. "I will not leave Clarke again. _Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op_."

"This is all very touching," Raven sarcastically drawls, "but that doesn't help the problem. No matter who she is, Clarke was still ID'ed on a hit, which means the entire company will be trying to terminate her, unless she has proof that she's killed the Commander."

"What if I have something better?" Clarke murmurs, and everyone's eyes turn to her, so she speaks more confidently. "What if I bring them the key to defeating the Mountainmen, _and_ peace with the Coalition?"

"Cage Wallace." Lexa growls, a fire lighting amongst her green eyes.

"Exactly." Clarke nods, smiling at her. "Raven, I need you to find him for me. Whatever you need to do, get Monty to help you."

Lexa nods at Anya as Raven stands up. "Anya, go with her. Keep her safe, I don't know what Nia knows yet."

Anya grumbles, but stands up and follows Raven, growling as she snatches the keys from the younger woman's hands, "Fine, but I'm driving this time." Raven's protests fade as the two women depart, still bickering.

"What can I do?" Octavia bounces in her seat, eager to get ready for action.

"Think you can sneak into the Dropship and get us some clothing and guns? We're going to need them."

"Of course, not a problem." Octavia grins, eager to help in any way she can.

"Indra, go with Lincoln. His family could be in danger from those in Clarke's company who are looking for her."

Wordlessly, the two swiftly stand and stride out the door, a gleeful Octavia behind them. Just as they door closes, the waitress brings out everyone's plates. Upon seeing only Clarke and Lexa remaining, she glares at them.

"Do not worry, I'm sure we will be able to eat most of it. We worked up quite an appetite last night." Lexa tells her, sending a wink to Clarke, who turns bright red. She could get used to this playful side of Lexa once again. The waitress only rolls her eyes and brings out the rest of the food as Clarke and Lexa start inhaling their breakfasts, having not eaten anything substantial for a long time and knowing they will need the energy soon.

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry this was a little angsty, but I wanted to discuss joining the Coalition from both sides, because it is similar to the show, and while Lexa clearly new it would benefit her people, there was also the personal gain of not having to be on opposing sides of Clarke anymore. Lexa is trying to make up for what she did and stay with her wife, and Clarke is trying to stay with her wife and protect her people, even if sometimes that conflicts. Next chapter will have action again!


	33. Left, Please

**AN:** Sorry for the long wait for this one! Life... Anyways, I promise I would not abandon this story, so don't worry! There's only a few chapters left and I will be finishing it soon, probably within the month! Enjoy this one, it's all fluff and action.

* * *

With Octavia's help, Clarke and Lexa were now dressed for action in dark clothing and combat boots, armed to the teeth with guns, knives, and a few extra goodies that she had insisted on. Clarke had only rolled her eyes and acquiesced, deciding it was easier to play along with the aggressive brunette instead of fight her. Fortunately, everything they had needed was at the Dropship, including a beat up old van. They would have been able to get better supplies from Arkadia, but Clarke didn't want to risk someone following Octavia in an effort to get to her.

At this point, Clarke and Lexa are just sitting in the back of the van waiting for Raven to call with information on Cage's location. While Clarke cleans a gun, she watches Lexa sharpen a knife expertly. Lexa seems calm, but Clarke has never been able to sit still for very long.

"What do you think is taking her so long?" Clarke asks Lexa as she loads and sets aside her gun so that she can work on the next one.

"It takes as long as it takes." Lexa replies, closing her eyes and leaning back against the side of the van as she twirls her knife between her fingers absentmindedly.

Clarke huffs at Lexa's sage answer and continues to clean and load guns. After another few minutes of silence, she becomes impatient once again. "Are you _meditating_?"

Lexa's eyes slowly blink open, unleashing a vast forest of green onto Clarke. "Preparation is half the battle, _Klark_. It is important to focus the mind in order to focus the body."

Clarke rolls her eyes at Lexa's behavior. Honestly, she shouldn't be surprised; Lexa has always been serious and focused in regards to her work, even when Clarke thought her work was just law.

Upon seeing Clarke's exasperation, Lexa sighs and tries to keep her wife occupied. "Well, what would you like to do instead?"

Clarke takes the time to think. She knows one thing she would certainly like to do, but little miss focused will undoubtedly deny her, insisting that they have to remain concentrated on the upcoming mission. Damn Cage Wallace for twat blocking her. After another moment's thoughts, she breaks the silence. "More secrets?"

Lexa raises an eyebrow at Clarke in question. "What secrets? You've been keeping more from me?"

"No!" Clarke hurries to add. "I mean, yes, kind of… I just feel like there's a lot we don't know about each other workwise. I know we went over the basics of the Coalition and stuff, but I mean you as the Commander. Are all the rumors true?"

Lexa's face goes blank, and she starts twirling her knife again, a nervous tic that she had never gotten rid of. "What rumors are you referring to, Clarke?"

"They say you're the best."

"You've seen me fight, I think you can decide that for yourself." Lexa smirks at Clarke, trying to lighten the mood.

"C'mon, Lex."

"What do you want to know?"

Clarke hesitates for a moment, wondering if she really wants to know. They both kill people, and while most of her targets were evil people, some were not. She isn't sure why she needs to know, but she is trying to figure out how the ruthless Commander, the leader of the hundreds of assassins, could be the same woman who had cried when they made love. Before she can second-guess herself, she quietly asks, "What's your number?" Lexa sucks in an audible breath and breaks away from Clarke's gaze. After a moment of silence, Clarke tries to break the tension. "I can go first." Lexa doesn't reply, so Clarke continues. "I don't keep count but… at least 700. Some were indirectly my fault, but… I still hold myself responsible. They haunt me."

"It helps no one to dwell on the past." Lexa mumbles, finally meeting Clarke's eyes. She knows that some of the 700 include her warriors. "I have killed many people, too, Clarke."

Clarke reaches over to take Lexa's hand. "It's OK, whatever it is. You can tell me. I won't judge you for it."

At Clarke's gentle tone, Lexa relents. This isn't about bragging or comparing kills, it's about revealing the worst of themselves knowing that no matter what they have done in the past, they would still love and accept each other. "Seven, two, nine, one, sixty-three, twenty-seven, three hundred."

Clarke's brow wrinkles in confusion. "What is that? Two hundred?"

"That's the number of people I've lost, Clarke. The number of my warriors who I sent to fight for me and who died due to my mistakes. It's the only number I kept track of."

Clarke is surprised by Lexa's answer, yet looking into Lexa's eyes, she knows it's the truth. Even though Lexa had just told her that 'it helps no one to dwell on the past,' Clarke can see that Lexa cares for her people deeply. And while Lexa may be a ruthless when needed, under the Commander mask Lexa was the woman that she was in love with. Clarke squeezes Lexa's hand, knowing that there are no words she can say to help, just content to be there with her in this quiet moment of acceptance.

After a moment, Lexa tugs Clarke forward, leaning forward herself to wrap her arm around Clarke's waist and press their foreheads together. Lexa takes a deep breath, breathing in Clarke's smell, and exhales, finding her own form of focus in Clarke's arms. "I love you." She whispers, nuzzling Clarke's nose with her own.

"I love you too." Clarke whispers back, as she wraps her free hand around Lexa's neck to pull her closer for a slow yet chaste kiss. They take the next few moments to appreciate the other's presence, until the ringing of Clarke's phone breaks them apart.

Clarke reluctantly pulls away from Lexa so that she can pull out her cell phone. She smiles when she sees the caller ID, knowing that they will finally get to take action now. She puts the call on speaker so that Lexa can hear before she answers. "Raven? What do you have?"

"He's in a bunker near the outskirts of the city. High security. Motion and thermal. Power's on the city grid. I'll patch everything in to the computer in the van."

"Thanks Rae."

"You're welcome Clarke. Is there anything else I can do? O and I can come down there if you need us to."

"No it's fine, Rae. This is my fight."

"Good luck girl."

Before Clarke can hang up, Lexa grabs the phone. "Raven, is Anya there?"

"Yeah, Lex, I'm here."

"Ahn, if something happens tonight-"

"Don't." Anya growls, and Clarke shoots Lexa a glare.

"Anya, if something happens to me, don't let the Nightbloods fight in the Conclave." Clarke smiles at Lexa, and Lexa can tell by the silence on the other end of the phone that Anya is shocked. "I fought to unite the clans in order to make peace. I don't want that to end with a bloody battle for the next Commander. It is time for change."

There is a moment of silence in which Lexa knows Anya is thinking over her words. Finally, Anya replies " _Ste yuj, seken_. _Yu gonplei nou ste odon_."

Lexa smiles, knowing that this is as close to acceptance and affection as she will get with her mentor and best friend. " _Nou get yu daun, Onya. Ai nou throu daun soulou_."

"Anya, is that a tear? Did you just confess your love for Lexa?"

Lexa smiles at Raven's interruption and turns to see Clarke smiling back at her. A muffled grunt of pain comes from the other end of the line, eliciting a giggle from Clarke. Lexa hears Anya cursing at Raven in _Trigedasleng_ and decides that it's probably best to hang up the phone.

Once the noise of the bickering women is cut off, Clarke asks Lexa, "What did you say?"

Lexa smiles at Clarke and pulls her in for a quick kiss. "I told her not to worry because I have you with me."

Clarke smiles and pulls Lexa back in for a more passionate kiss, which she breaks off only when she needs oxygen. "Who knew you'd be such a sap, _Heda_? Now c'mon, let's go get that fucker."

* * *

Since Lexa had lost the coin toss, she found herself sitting in the van while Clarke was crawling through the sewers to break into the bunker. At first, she had been very grumpy about that fact, but upon hearing the sloshing of the water that Clarke was crawling through and her yelp when she saw a rat, Lexa realizes that she probably got the better end of the deal. "Ok, so after I cut the power, you have a 30 second window to incapacitate the guards and grab Cage before reinforcements arrive. Take out the guards, grab him, and get out. Simple and clean. Got it?"

"Got it." Clarke grunts, just as she starts slamming a hammer into the side of the sewer wall. They had planned out a route through the sewers, but the bunker only had small pipes that flew into the more open public sewers. In order to get into the bunker's pipes, Clarke would have to break through a wall. For that, they were using one of the goodies Octavia had provided.

Lexa hears Clarke panting through the ear piece as she scurries away from the small hole she had chiseled and the bomb she had placed in it. Seconds later, Lexa hears the distinct sound of stone hitting stone as the wall explodes. Clarke is wearing a camera on her head which allows Lexa to see whatever Clarke is looking at, so Lexa can see small hole which is just big enough for Clarke to squeeze through.

As Clarke squeezes through the hole, she grunts as she falls through it and into the water. She groans as she wipes the dirty water from her mouth so she can talk to Lexa. "I need you to monitor the perimeter, make sure no one heard that."

"I'm already watching, you're good to go."

"And their radios, has anyone said anything? When does the shift change?"

"No one has called anything in. Shift changes in 30 minutes, you have plenty of time."

"You should probably get on the police bands too, just in case they-"

"Clarke!" Lexa growls, unable to hide her annoyance. "They are a group of assassins, do you really think they're going to call the police if someone breaks into their secret bunker, which is probably filled with illegal explosives and weapons? But just in case, I am already on the police bands. It's not my first time."

Clarke rolls her eyes and continues crawling through the pipes. "I'm just used to having Raven and O backing me up. I'm sorry."

"The one who was hiding an ex-wife doesn't trust _me_?" Lexa sounds insulted.

Clarke sighs and takes the camera off so Lexa can see her face. "You gotta let that go, babe. And I do trust you, Lexa. You know that. But it's our first time working together and the stakes are high. Everything needs to be perfect. Plus, you tried to _kill_ me."

Lexa sighs before answering Clarke. "I'm never going to be able to win an argument ever again, am I?"

Clarke smiles and blows Lexa a kiss before situating the camera back on her head and continuing to make her way through the sewers. "Not my fault. You were the one who gave me the trump card, babe."

Lexa half-heartedly grumbles as she calls out directions for Clarke to take, but she knows that she's lucky that Clarke forgives her. If she has to lose their arguments for the rest of her life, it will be a small price to pay.

After a few more twists and turns, Clarke is getting closer to where Cage is being held. "Turn left." When Clarke doesn't listen, Lexa calls out again, "Left Clarke. Left!"

Clarke takes off her camera so Lexa can see her frown. "Be nice, Lexa. We're a team, no need to get snippy with me."

Lexa rolls her eyes and makes her voice overly sweet. "Left please?"

Clarke turns the camera around to show her path in front of her. "There is no left." Clarke pounds on the wall to her left, which is clearly solid. "I can keep going straight, or back the way I came. Which way do you want me to go?"

Lexa pulls up the details of the pipes that Raven had sent them and starts scrolling through them, trying to figure out why their carefully planned directions are incorrect. "Just wait a moment, let me figure out where you are."

Clarke situates her camera back on her head and resists shivering at the disgusting water that is now running down the back of her neck. "Lexa, I'm literally laying in shit. Hurry up."

Lexa tries to scroll faster, but knows she has to get this right. She wishes they could have printed the plans, she was never that great with computers. She's a more old-fashioned girl. "Just stay there. I'll find it and figure out where we went wrong." Lexa keeps examining the plans, but movement on the screen to her right catches her attention. Clarke is now crawling backwards through the sewer. "Clarke, I told you to wait there." She looks away, tracing the path Clarke had come, quickly trying to find their error before her wife does anything rash. "I almost have it. Just hold on."

Clarke has had enough of sitting in the sewer water, and when she finds the rungs of a ladder leading to the surface, she starts climbing. She doesn't have a problem winging it if a plan is failing. As she climbs, her gun accidentally bangs the metal rung. She winces, knowing that Lexa's attention will be drawn back to her actions.

"What are you doing, Clarke?" When Clarke doesn't answer, Lexa frantically asks her again, "What are you _doing_?"

Clarke makes it to the top of the ladder and puts her hands on the cover, preparing to push it up. "Kill the lights when I say so."

Lexa watches as Clarke quietly lifts the cover up and pulls herself up onto the floor of the bunker. Clarke's question of "Lexa, did you hear me?" snaps Lexa out of her daze, and she quickly searches for the program Raven had set up for her to control the lights. "Which one is it, Clarke?" Lexa is starting to worry for her wife, and the stress is making it hard for her to concentrate, especially when she is unused to doing advanced computer work. Clarke is in there, alone without backup, and she can't find the one thing that could help her.

Clarke looks around and gets her bearings, seeing a stair well straight ahead of her. "Lexa, kill the lights." When she gets no response beyond the loud tapping of computer keys, Clarke starts to worry. "Lexa, kill the lights _now_. It's the red button."

Suddenly, a man comes down the stairs. "Hey, who are you?" Clarke shoots him, and the lights finally go off. "No, Lexa, not now! Turn 'em back on!" Clarke runs up the stairs silently and waits as someone runs through the doorway. She grabs him, breaks his neck, and tosses him behind her down the stairs.

Lexa is frantically typing away, having heard Clarke's distress and trying to help in whatever way she can. She can hear more gunshots and an alarm coming from Clarke's earpiece, so she knows she needs to work quickly. In their original plan, she was only going to need to turn the lights off, but now Clarke wants her to turn them back on again. "I'm trying Clarke." She hisses, as she starts typing, hoping that her basic coding skills are working.

"Lexa, give me light!" More gunshots sound, which Clarke uses to locate her enemies. Stupid of them to try to fire at her blindly. Finally the lights are restored, allowing Clarke to make her way through the bunker quickly, shooting anyone in her path. When she comes to a locked door, she places another explosive on it and steps back, waiting for it to blow.

The door explodes inwards, and Clarke rushes through the smoke and flames, searching for enemies. Three of the four guards have been blown backwards and are lying prone on the ground, and Clarke quickly shoots the last one. She looks around and spots a groaning Cage lying on the floor underneath a table, and she rushes over to him and hits him over the head with the butt of her assault rifle. For some reason, he's not restrained, but she brushes the oddity off and pulls some zip ties from her pocket to tie his hands together.

"Lexa, can you turn off that alarm for me? It's getting annoying." Clarke asks as she starts dragging Cage through the hallways. Clarke chuckles as Lexa starts grumbling.

"Clarke! I don't know how to do that! Why didn't you wait for my signal?"

Cage's head bangs against the stairs as Clarke drags him up them by his arms, but she ignores it in favor of some verbal sparring with her wife. "I improvised, Lexa. You should try it sometime."

Lexa does some more typing on the computer, but decides to admit defeat. Besides, she's annoyed with Clarke right now and wants to return the favor. "You deviated from the plan. We worked out contingencies for every scenario. Hey, watch out!"

At Lexa's words, Clarke looks up and catches a man coming towards her. She drops Cage on his face in order to shoot the approaching guard. She takes a moment to catch her breath and gather her strength, then picks Cage up in a fireman's carry. Despite the protest from her injuries from the previous night, she pushes on, as this position allows her to more readily access her weapon and defend herself. "The plan was flawed."

Lexa sighs, deciding to pull up the security camera feed now that their presence in the bunker was already known. "The plan was not flawed. Now, do you still have one of those explosives Octavia gave you?"

"I have one left, why do you ask?"

"Take a right up here, there's a group heading your way." When Clarke listens to her, Lexa starts the van and puts it in drive, heading towards the compound. "Walk straight ahead to the end of the hallway and place the charge there." Lexa pushes down on the accelerator, popping over the curb and smashing through the 10 foot high chain link fence surrounding the bunker. Most of the guards had rushed inside to reinforce those under attack, but there's still two that come rushing out of the building when they spot her. She swings the van around so the back is facing the building, spraying dust and gravel.

As the guards start running towards her, she grabs an assault rifle from the passenger seat and jumps out, quickly firing off two shots to their heads. They hit the ground just as the wall explodes behind the van. Before jumping back in the driver's seat, she runs to the back and pulls open the door. As soon as the dust from the explosion settles, Clarke runs through, throwing Cage in the back and slamming the door. The trunk door catches on his arm that is hanging out, and Clarke winces a bit before shoving his arm back inside and slamming the door again.

Lexa honks the horn, impatient to be off before more reinforcements arrive, and Clarke grumbles as she hops in the passenger seat and Lexa accelerates before she can even put on her seatbelt. When Clarke strips out of the worst of her soiled top clothes, she glances over to see a still pissed off Lexa. "C'mon, Lex. You racing in after me wasn't part of the plan, but look how good that turned out! Ninety percent of this job is instinct; you know that."

Lexa keeps her eyes on the road as she retorts, "I am aware that plans don't last very long in battle. But your instincts set off every alarm in the building."

"My instincts got the job done. That's all that matters. Now what's really going on?" When Lexa's fingers only clench harder around the steering wheel, Clarke reaches over to pry her right one off, taking it in her own hand and rubbing soothing circles over it.

After a moment, Lexa's grip on the steering wheel lessens and her shoulders relax. When they come to a red light she turns a concerned gaze to Clarke. "We had a plan to keep you safe. If something went wrong, I wouldn't have been able to get to you in time. I already went through your death once; I won't survive it again."

Clarke grabs the back of Lexa's neck and leans over, giving her a hot and dirty kiss that she doesn't break until a car behind them honks at them, alerting Lexa to the green light. It must be the adrenaline, or maybe just wanting to feel alive after a close call, but Clarke was always horny after intense missions. "I'm right here. I'm OK. I'm not going anywhere."

Lexa takes a deep breath and brings her focus back from kissing Clarke to driving to the motel room they had already booked. As a leader, she had asked her warriors to fight and die for her for years, but it was different when it was Clarke in there. She could no longer be _Heda_ when Clarke was involved. Lexa reaches over to twine her fingers through Clarke's hand again, wanting to maintain her connection with her wife.

Clarke gladly twines her fingers together and moves over to sit in the middle seat, leaning her head on Lexa's shoulder and letting out a contented sigh. When Lexa stiffens next to her, she lifts her head to look at her in confusion. "What's wrong, babe?"

Lexa lets go of Clarke's hand so that she can roll down the window. " _Niron_ , I don't know how to put this but… You stink."

Clarke's mouth drops in shock as Lexa starts to giggle, prompting Clarke to slug her in the shoulder. "Shut up. I'll shower as soon as we get to the motel. But only if you join me." Clarke moves her hand to the inside of Lexa's thigh and starts to gently stroke up and down.

Lexa's laugh stops abruptly, and Clarke smirks, laying her head back on her wife's shoulder once again, watching as the needle on the speedometer climbs higher and higher as Lexa rushes back to their motel room.

* * *

Trigedasleng Translations:

 _Ste yuj, seken_. _Yu gonplei nou ste odon_. - Stay strong, second. Your fight is not over.

 _Nou get yu daun, Onya. Ai nou throu daun soulou_. - Don't worry, Anya. I do not fight alone.


	34. The Bait

After a lovely shower with her wife, Clarke steps out of the bathroom in black sweats and a soft, grey long-sleeved shirt – the perfect comfortable clothes to interrogate someone in. Cage is tied to a chair and his back is to her, so she stands in the doorway and towels her hair dry as she waits for Lexa. Clarke doesn't hear her come up behind her, just feels the strong arms wrap around her waist and the kiss pressed to the junction of her neck and shoulder. She leans back into Lexa's embrace and relishes the comfort and warmth she gives off.

Suddenly, Clarke stiffens and turns in Lexa's arms with a pout on her face. "You used your Commander powers to sneak up on me in the kitchen that night!"

"What?" Lexa is confused, unsure where this train of thought came from.

"The last time we had dinner at my mother's house, before you left to go to work, you snuck up on me in the kitchen! I was kicking myself for letting someone untrained sneak up on me, but you're the fucking Commander!" Lexa just smirks and shrugs, which earns her a playful punch from Clarke in retaliation. "Aren't you supposed to use your powers for good, not evil?"

"I was using them for good. I was soothing my angry wife." Lexa sweetly tells Clarke, earning herself a quick kiss, which is only broken when she hears what sounds like muffled laughter. Frowning, she takes the towel from around Clarke's neck and snaps it on the back of Cage's head, eliciting a pained groan.

Clarke frowns at Lexa as she scolds her. "Shouldn't you be nicer to him? We need him to talk to us."

Lexa presses one last kiss to Clarke's perfect pink lips and then takes a deep breath, becoming the Commander. Clarke is shocked at the change in Lexa as her face becomes void of emotion and then a vicious smirk forms on her face. She struts over to the bag on her bed and pulls out a knife, twirling it casually in her hand as she casually sits on the edge of the bed. "He's going to talk to us no matter what, if only so we will kill him quickly."

Clarke looks like she is about to protest Lexa's interrogation style, but Lexa holds up her hand, demanding silence. Clarke frowns, but doesn't speak, just sits down to watch Lexa work.

Lexa stares at Cage with her intense green eyes boring in to him until he breaks and shifts his eyes away from her. "You remember your friend, Emerson?" Cage looks up in anger and Clarke looks surprised, not having heard this story before. "I see that you do. I'm sure that you saw him, after I worked on him? That was only after 10 minutes." Cage struggles against his bonds, angry and yelling, but only muffled sounds come through the gag. Lexa stands up from the bed and slowly strides forward, slamming the knife down into the armrest, only inches away from Cage's hand. He whimpers and tries to shift away, but his bonds hold him in place. Lexa leans close, growling at him, "I never got to give Emerson what he truly deserved, but I am more than happy to give it to you." Lexa pulls another knife out and trails it lightly across Cage's cheek, even as he shies away from it. With a razor sharp edge, Lexa is able to trail it across his face, cutting through the top layers of skin without causing him to bleed. Cage hisses in pain, and Lexa drags it down to his chest over his clothes and down to his crotch, where she rests the tip of the blade. Cage ceases his struggles at this point, and Lexa maliciously whispers to him, "If you do not tell me what I need to know, I will cut off your dick and balls and then sew them back together. Then I will start cutting off fingers, and I will not be sewing those back on. I will cauterize each wound so you do not bleed out, and leave you lying on this floor _wishing_ that I would have killed you." At this point, Cage is frozen in terror thinking about the pain that is going to come his way. "But we are going to avoid all that, because you are going to talk to me. Right? So I'm going to take the gag out, and you are going to tell us everything you know about the sensitive information you were carrying. You are _not_ going to scream or yell. Do you understand me?" Cage has found the strength once more to look at least a little defiant, so Lexa slaps him hard. "Let's try this again. Do. You. Understand me?" Cage nods his head vigorously, so Lexa stands up and backs away from him, gesturing for Clarke to undo the gag.

After Clarke pulls the gag out of his mouth, she moves to take Lexa's place on the bed, wanting to be able to see. Lexa watches Cage closely to make sure that he's not going to yell, but all he does is cough and look around warily. Knowing that she has to continue to play her part, Lexa turns her gaze to Clarke, where she softens her gaze and gently cups one of Clarke's cheeks, allowing Cage to fully observe her actions. "I guess he's not talking. Sweetie, you don't want to see this. Why don't you go get us some chocolate and wine?"

Clarke is insulted and angered by Lexa's request, but fortunately has the training to not show it on her face. However, when she catches a twitch of Lexa's lips, she realizes that Lexa is still playing with Cage, and she decides to join the act. "Alright babe." Clarke gives Lexa a passionate kiss and a smile before walking towards the door.

Clarke barely makes it two steps before Cage is yelling, "Don't go! I swear, I'll tell you everything you need to know! Just don't leave me alone with _her_."

Clarke smiles at Lexa, her back to Cage so he can't see her. Lexa grazes her fingertips against Clarke's arm in thanks as she walks past her to glare at Cage as she pulls her knife out of the armrest. "I thought I said no yelling."

Cage's breathing picks up as his gaze bounces between Lexa and Clarke. "Please, I won't do it again. I'll tell you everything I know."

Clarke steps up next to Cage and slaps him on the opposite cheek that Lexa had. "Good. Now start talking, _pretty boy_." Clarke mocks his nickname, not understanding how anyone could think his sleazy appearance could be imagined as anything close to 'pretty'.

"I didn't have information about the Coalition." Lexa pulls her arm back, this time with a closed fist, to punch Cage, but he quickly speaks up before she can hit him. "I had information about the two of _you_." Clarke and Lexa are both shocked, and do well to hide it, but Cage smirks, knowing that they were not expecting this answer. "Both of your companies found out that you two were married, so they teamed up to take you out. As eliminating _Heda_ and _Wanheda_ would be beneficial for the Mountainmen as well, they sent both of you on the same hit with me as the target, knowing that you would end up having to take out each other, and we would do nothing to interfere."

Clarke searches Lexa's face, hoping that she knew nothing about this, and from the shock on her face, she knows that Lexa is just as surprised as she is. "But that's impossible. You're in charge of your company. How could they do that without your knowledge?"

"It was a coup." Lexa whispers, unwilling to believe that all the ambassadors essentially sentenced her to death after she had devoted her entire life to the Coalition.

"Two competing agents living together? I can't believe neither of you found out." Cage laughs at them, unable to stop his amusement at the situation. "Not only is it bad for business, but it also creates a serious conflict of interest, one which Queen Nia was more than happy to exploit. And if I remember, your advisor hasn't been too happy with your work recently. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Titus."

Lexa is angry, knowing that she was betrayed by one of her closest advisors. Nia is nothing unexpected, as she has always expressed her dislike of her, but Titus had practically raised her once she was taken from the orphanage. And Clarke's company betrayed her too… Lexa is horrified to realize that Clarke's betrayal may be even worse than her own. "Isn't your mother on the council? How could she allow this?" Clarke looks distressed upon fully realizing that her mother had allowed her to be _killed_ , just like her father.

Cage smirks, only finding the situation more and more amusing. "Don't worry, _Clarke_ _dear_ , she didn't know. They brought in an alternate councilman due to her clear conflict of interest. His name is Pike."

Lexa turns to glare at Pike, finding it strange how much information is revealing. "Why do you know all this? And why are you sharing it so willingly with us?"

Cage goes silent, realizing that maybe he has spoken too willingly. Clarke makes the connection before Lexa does, pulling back her arm in a threatening manner. "You _were_ bait, or you _are_ bait?"

Cage's eyes go wide and he turns his head away, not wanting to be hit in his face. "Belt. Belt!"

Lexa quickly pulls the belt off Cage and flips open the clasp to find a tracker inside. She flips it open and examines the screen to see how much time they have until they are found. "We have ten minutes." When she doesn't get a response, she looks up to find that the motel door is open and Clarke is gone. For a moment, Lexa is terrified that Clarke has left her, until Clarke comes back through the door with a bag and a computer in one hand, and her phone in the other.

Clarke kicks the door shut, waiting for Raven to pick up the phone. As soon as she hears a click, she starts talking. "Raven? I need you to back trace a signal for me."

"Cla-arke?"

The second half of the word is a moan, and Clarke is horrified. "Raven? What's going on?"

"Nothing." Raven gasps, then hisses, "Everything is fine."

There are some muffled words and then a thump. "Raven, what the fuck is going on?" Clarke is seriously concerned that her company has come after Raven for information about her.

"Nothing. What did you need? I'm in front of my computer right now."

Lexa is staring at Clarke intently, trying to discern what is going on, so Clarke decides to move on. She explains to Raven what she needs to do, which prompts Lexa to gag Cage once more and start laying explosives around the room, ignoring Cage's muffled pleas for mercy.

Once Lexa is thoroughly occupied, Clarke speaks to Raven in a quieter tone. "Ray, are you sure you're OK?"

Raven sighs, then just decides to tell Clarke the truth. "I'm with Anya."

There's some muffled shouting from the background that Clarke can tell Raven is ignoring because there's still the sound of typing keys, but Clarke is still confused. "So? Why does that… Oh!" Clarke's eyes go wide as soon as she realizes what Raven means.

"Look, it's not a big deal, OK? Just some hate sex. You know how I get after missions. And you're one to talk, as you get the same way."  
"Not a big deal?" Clarke whisper yells in girlish excitement. "You have been chasing her ever since the wedding! How was it?"

"Still ongoing…" Raven grumbles, sad that she was interrupted. "But let me tell you, now I know why you didn't divorce Lexa all those years ago. Grounder girls know their way around the forest, if you know what I mean."

Clarke rolls her eyes at Raven's suggestive joke, and then laughs as she hears an argument in the background.

"Clarke was going to _divorce Lexa_?"

"Shut up Anya! Lexa tried to _kill_ Clarke."

"That _branwada_. I'm never going to be able to win an argument now."

"You were never going to ever be able to win anyways. Now be quiet so I can work, Clexa is in danger."

"Wait, you're talking to Clarke? I thought we weren't going to tell anyone about this!"

"So I should stop talking about your skills in bed?"

"Proceed. But since we're talking about skills in bed, yours aren't too bad either."

"So does this mean this is going to be more than just a one time thing?"

"I'll consider it. Hurry up and help those idiots so you can get back to convincing me."

"OK, Clarke, I traced the signal back to a nearby mountain. I sent the GPS coordinates to your phone. That's where the main signal is going, then it is being bounced to a nearby phone that's 5 minutes from your location. You better get a move on. Good luck bye!" Raven rushes out her words and then hangs up, leaving Clarke shaking her head in amusement.

* * *

Five minutes later, Clarke and Lexa are sitting in the van in the lot across from the motel, watching as black cars swerve into the parking lot, allowing a small army of men dressed all in black to jump out and run upstairs to their motel room.

"Mountain men." Lexa growls, clearly recognizing their style and form of dress.

The two sit in silence, waiting for them to breach the door. Clarke holds up the button as the men pause outside the door, waiting for the rest of the teams to get in position.

Without any words, Lexa places her finger on the button alongside Clarke's. As soon as two teams kick the door open and burst inside, they press the button together, detonating the bombs and blowing away everyone inside and in the nearby vicinity. Fortunately, the seedy motel had been vacant except for them, so no innocents were killed.

Lexa pulls a sniper rifle from the backseat and uses the scope to scan the area, searching for any survivors. After a few moments with no sign of life and the sound of approaching police sirens, Clarke puts the car in drive and heads away, following the signal on her phone.

As Clarke drives out of the city, Lexa tells her to pull over in the parking lot of a Costco. Clarke nods, knowing that they need to come up with a plan. The parking lot is empty, but Clarke still parks at the back and then climbs in between the seats to the more spacious area in the back.

Clarke gets a text to her phone, a location from Lexa. Confused, she looks up to meet Lexa's sad eyes.

"Repeat after me. _Ai laik Klark kom Skaikru en ai gaf gouthru klir. Leksa laik ai houman_."

"Lexa, what is this for?" Clarke asks, confused at Lexa's sudden behavior.

" _Beja_ Clarke." Clarke doesn't speak _Trigedasleng_ , but she knows that Lexa is stressed, so repeats the words over and over with Lexa correcting her pronunciation until she has it mastered. Once Clarke has memorized the words, Lexa grabs her hands, seeking out Clarke's touch. "I just sent you the location for my friend Luna. She will keep you safe."

Clarke grips Lexa's hands tighter, still confused as to what Lexa is asking of her. "Lex, what is going on?" A tear rolls down Lexa's face, and Clarke moves her hand to her cheek to wipe it away.

"This is all my fault, Clarke. My people betrayed me because they think I am weak, and now it has put you in danger. You have a kill order on you, and as soon as Nia takes control of the Coalition, she will wage war on the _Skaikru_. If something happens to me, I need you to get to a safe location. Luna owes me. She _will_ protect you."

"I'm not leaving my people behind!" Tears form in Clarke's eyes at the thought of Lexa dying. "I'm not leaving _you_ , Lex. Till death do us part, right?"

"Clarke, just promise me that if something happens to me you'll go!"

"And what about you?" Lexa looks away, having accepted her death a long time ago. "I'm the commander of death, and neither of us are dying today. Most of the Mountainmen are out hunting us right now. First we take the fight there, and then we deal with our internal problems. I can't live without you, Lexa."

Lexa looks up to meet Clarke's watery blue gaze, allowing all of her emotions to spread across her face for once. "I'm sorry Clarke. There's no one else I want by my side, but the thought of something happening to you… I love you _so_ much."

Clarke leans her forehead against Lexa's, gently grazing her lips over Lexa's own. "I love you too." Lexa closes the distance between them, kissing Clarke hard and deep, pouring her emotions into the kiss. Clarke returns it, barely letting Lexa pull away for air. When Clarke's brain finally forces her away to break away from Lexa, she pants out, "Now let's go get ready for war. I've always wanted a Costco membership."

Lexa laughs at Clarke's words, still trying to catch her breath, and laces their fingers together as she leads them towards the store.


	35. The Calm Before the Storm

**AN:** I'm horrible for keeping you waiting I know I'm so sorry... I really disliked the last chapter I wrote and so I got some writer's block but I think I resolved it! Sorry this is just another fluff chapter but I needed to set up the action! Next chapter I promise is action, I already have it all figured out. My life is crazy in so many ways write now I can't explain them all BUT I am figuring it out and I'm going to finish it there's only a few chapters left! YAY! Also ;(

* * *

Clarke and Lexa break into Costco with some bolt cutters that had fortunately been left in the back of the van. Lexa steps inside first, gun raised at the ready, searching for a security guard. Clarke, however, shoves past her easily and casually, gun still tucked in her waistband.

"Lex, there's no armed guards. It's _Costco_."

Lexa huffs but clicks the safety on her gun and tucks it away. "You can never be too careful, _Klark_."

Clarke grabs a shopping cart and runs gleefully down one of the aisles, jumping onto the bottom shelf so that she can ride on it as the cart glides to a slow stop. When she turns around, she sees Lexa staring around in awe.

"There's so much…" Lexa waves her arms around in wild circles, eyes wide. "Stuff. Everywhere. Everything."

Clarke laughs and grabs a box of protein bars off the shelf, opening it to grab two and then tossing the box into the cart. She opens one for herself and starts eating it, then throws the other at Lexa's head to snap her out of her stupor.

Lexa jumps when the protein bar hits her in the face and sends a glare at Clarke, who only giggles and continues further into the store. Lexa sighs and opens her protein bar, chewing it slowly as she jogs after Clarke. When they get to the back of the store, Clarke starts smashing a glass case and pulling out various guns, testing their weight and holding them up to her shoulder. When she finds one she likes and plenty of bullets, she looks up to find Lexa walking towards her with two bullet proof vests.

"This store sells _guns_?" Lexa questions in shock.

"It's Costco. They sell _everything_."

Lexa shakes her head as she approaches Clarke and sets down one of the vests. She pulls the Velcro apart as Clarke slips off her shirt and holds out her arms. Carefully and efficiently, Lexa helps Clarke into her vest, making sure that it is velcroed tight enough to provide adequate protection but not too tight so as to limit her movements. Once she is satisfied, Clarke does the same for Lexa, checking everywhere to make sure she is protected.

"There, all set." Clarke nods, pressing a quick kiss to Lexa's lips. Never had she taken as much time or felt as protective when helping someone with a bulletproof vest as she did at this moment, knowing that they were going to be putting themselves in real danger tonight.

Lexa smiles and turns away to examine the rest of the guns. "Good. I'll finish up here and meet you in kitchen supplies?"

"What would we need in kitchen supplies?" Clarke frowns at Lexa in confusion. When Lexa turns to her with a familiar smile, Clarke rolls her eyes pushes the cart away, throwing her gun and bullets in the basket. "Knives, right. I don't even know why I asked."

As Clarke strolls away, she hears Lexa loading guns and grabbing boxes of ammo, but pauses when she hears the unfamiliar sound of sliding metal on metal. When she turns around, she finds Lexa unsheathing a sword, with its twin already strapped to her back. Lexa gives the sword a few experimental swipes through the air, creating a soft swishing noise as she stabs and parries against invisible opponents.

When she finally looks up to meet Clarke's raised eyebrow, she only gives a sheepish shrug and sheaths the second sword across her back. "Swords don't run out bullets."

Clarke can't help but shake her head as she tries to hide her smile. In the modern world, something about Lexa is obsessed with the past, and she can't help but find her obsession with candles, knives, and swords amusing. Lexa may have been just as proficient with guns as Clarke was, and Clarke could throw knives with the best of them, but clearly they both still had distinctly different preferences. She hums in thought as she strolls past the clothing section, trying to imagine Lexa as an ancient warrior in a time without guns, when she freezes at the sight of two mannequins' outfits, smiling in happiness as she starts perusing the clothing wracks. Once she has found the perfect outfit for Lexa and herself, she heads towards the lingerie rack, just for fun, and gets distracted as she continues to peruse the aisles.

While Clarke had disappeared into the depths of the store, Lexa had grabbed her accumulation of weapons and staggered off in the direction where she had seen a sign for sports. Clarke had told her to meet her in the kitchen section, but she needed to make a quick stop first. When she finds the right aisle, she gently sets down the guns and ammo she couldn't strap to herself or stick in a pocket and starts examining the merchandise, trying to find the right product for her uses. Just in case, she grabs several boxes and scoops her pile of weapons and heads in the direction she thinks is the kitchen section. After several minutes, she finds herself hopelessly lost and is starting to feel somewhat frantic. As she is hurrying down a random aisle, she freezes in her tracks and drops everything in her arms as her eyes widen.

As soon as she hears the sound of what must be guns hitting the floor, Clarke throws the clothes she picked out into the cart and runs towards the noise. "Lexa?" Clarke yells in worry, only getting a strangled whimper in return. She picks up her pace and slides around the corner, stopping as soon as she sees Lexa standing safe and alone in the middle of the aisle. "Lexa, what's wrong?" Clarke asks as she leaves the cart and walks towards Lexa's back, unable to see Lexa's face.

Lexa is still frozen with her back to Clarke as she whispers, "I didn't fully understand what you meant when you said this store had _everything_. It's so big and the aisles go on forever, that I should have known. But now it dawns on me, what that truly means."

Clarke is extremely confused and continues to approach Lexa slowly, worried about her wife's sanity. "Lexa, sweetie, I know it's a big store, and it's easy to become lost, but you're OK." She reaches out to gently put her hand on Lexa's shoulder, but Lexa must sense her because she jerks around quickly to finally meet Clarke's eyes with her own happy tear filled ones, holding the biggest candle Clarke has ever seen in her life and more knives than one person should be able to hold in one hand.

"This is the greatest store ever, Clarke. Why didn't you tell me about it earlier? We are _definitely_ getting a membership here."

Clarke rolls her eyes and slaps Lexa playfully on one arm. "You idiot, I was actually worried about you. Now put the candle away, we can come back for it later." Lexa pouts and gives Clarke a pleading look, but when Clarke doesn't budge, she sighs and gently places it back on the rack. Clarke starts picking up Lexa's forgotten weapons from the floor and tossing them into the cart. "I think we've got everything we need, we should head out."

Lexa hums as she nods in agreement, shifting through everything that they have picked out to double check they have everything. She smiles happily when she finds the clothes Clarke had picked out for each other, pleased that her wife knows her so well. What she finds under the clothes, however, makes her frown. "Clarke, what is this?"

Clarke looks up from where she is picking up spilled bullets and putting them back in their box. "What is oh…" She trails off as she realizes what Lexa is holding.

Lexa raises an eyebrow and scowls at her wife. "So you get to keep a paint set, but I don't get to keep my candle?"

"Well… I… It's just…"

"Hmmmm." Lexa hums, tossing it out of the cart, daring Clarke to disagree. The blonde only sighs, knowing that Lexa is right, but it was too good of a deal for to resist. "What else did you hide in here that you shouldn't have?" Lexa asks as she starts rummaging to the bottom of the cart, shoving aside weapons, bullets, and food to get to the bottom of the cart.

Clarke's eyes widen in surprise and she jumps up trying to stop Lexa, but when Lexa's eyes widen in shock she realizes that she is too late. "Ummmm…. I can explain…" Clarke mumbles, blushing and looking at her feet.

Lexa is blushing now as well as she pulls a strap-on and a giant jar of lube out of the cart. "Clarke?"

Clarke covers her face with one hand as she mumbles, "Well, Mrs. Taylor's talk about spicing up our sex lives… Not that it's not… Cuz it is! I just thought you would… It's fine, we don't have to…"

"You want me to use this on you?" Lexa asks with a voice several octaves higher than normal.

"If you want to?" Clarke asks, finally looking up to meet Lexa's eyes. "Or I could use it on you? Whichever..." Clarke trails off as she realizes that Lexa's mouth is open and her eyes have darkened with lust.

Before Lexa can manage to control herself enough to say something in response, she hears the distinctive sound of helicopter blades whirring. Immediately, she starts grabbing guns and other weapons from the cart. "How did they find us?"

Clarke has also snapped out of her lust, switching to business mode. "I'm not sure. Maybe they reversed the signal I was using to track them?"

Lexa hums, deep in thought. "This could be in our favor. We don't know what defenses the Mountain has. The odds are already against us; at least they ambushed us where we actually have a chance, and not on the winding road up to the Mountain."

At the sound of tires squealing and another helicopter landing, Clarke's blood goes cold, knowing that they are going to be greatly outnumbered. She takes a deep breath to compose herself then starts stripping her clothes off to change.

Knowing they don't have much time, Lexa quickly strips off her pants and shirt to slip on the white button up Clarke had picked out for her, quickly buttoning the buttons over her bulletproof vest. She pulls the black pants, matching blazer, and heels on, finishing off the look by quickly fixing some of her braids that have fallen out. When she looks up, she finds Clarke dressed in a similar manner, except her suit is grey and her hair is still down, but two blonde strands are pulled back on each side of her head to keep her hair out of her face.

Clarke smiles at how hot Lexa looks in the suit she picked out and grabs as many weapons as she can hold. Lexa had never seen Clarke dressed in a suit before, and she can't help subtly sneaking peaks as she adjusts the swords strapped to her back and grabs the rest of her weapons. When they both finish arming themselves, their eyes meet.

Lexa grabs a tube out and a small mirror out of the cart and starts uncapping it. Clarke watches her, confused at first, as Lexa starts applying eye black around her face. It only takes her 30 seconds before she has finished her signature look: black surrounding her eyes all the way back to her hair line and three tear like tracks down her cheeks. When she looks up, she sees Clarke looking at her intently, and blushes slightly. "Would you like some?" Lexa holds out the tube tentatively to Clarke, waiting for her to take it.

Clarke nods her head and steps towards Lexa, but doesn't take the eye black from the brunette. Instead, she closes her eyes, trusting Lexa to do it. Slowly, Lexa draws two ovals around Clarke's eyes, filling them in and leaving the bridge of her nose bare. She then covers the tip of her nose in a black triangle. Because Clarke's skin is paler than Lexa's and the eye black is so dark, Clarke truly looks terrifying in the dim light, very reminiscent of the real commander of death. Once she has finished, Lexa caps the eye black and leans forward to press a gentle kiss to Clarke's lips, careful not to smear either of their war paint. Clarke's eyes slowly blink open, their blue color contrasting even more than normal. Lexa thinks her wife has never looked more terrifying. Clarke thinks the same of Lexa, as her green eyes shine more brightly as well. In the past 24 hours, they have tried to kill each other, then had make-up sex, reaffirmed their love, shared their most hidden secrets, and now there is nothing more to say or do, except fight and survive. When the loud screech of a door being opened sounds through the building, the two women nod and together, start silently making their way through the aisles.


	36. Till Death Do We Part

**AN:** Three chapters left! If you have any final requests or want to say hi then find me on tumblr under the same name or leave a review! I hope you're enjoying it.

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Clarke and Lexa move slowly through the aisles, footsteps perfectly silent, as they seek out their targets. Fortunately for them, they know the general layout of the store, unlike the Mountainmen who are invading it. Also, they are not weighed down by heavy protective gear, and instead can move swiftly and silently through the store, ducking around corners in order to come up behind their enemy.

At the moment, Clarke is in the lead and Lexa is watching their back, both with guns at the ready. Clarke turns the corner and Lexa follows, only to have her back shoved against the wall and into an alcove by Clarke. Lexa stifles a groan and shoots a glare at her wife, as she still has several painful injuries from their fight the night before. Clarke holds up her finger to indicate silence to Lexa and returns her attention forwards, waiting for the unsuspecting soldier to walk down the aisle.

Clarke waits for the footsteps to approach and when he is in her reach but still unable to see their hidden forms she lashes out with one arm, smacking the man in the face with the butt of her gun, breaking his nose and stunning him. Clarke catches him with her free hand but before she can do anything else, Lexa delivers the final blow, stabbing a knife through the upper part of his throat up into his brain in order to prevent the man from making a sound. Lexa grabs the other side of his body and together, the couple carefully lowers it to the ground and into the alcove, hidden from view.

Clarke grabs the assault rifle off the soldier and his handgun, but Lexa takes the time to silently unsheathe the twin swords from her back. She leads the way towards the next aisle, using the blade as a mirror to look around the corner and make sure the soldiers are facing away from her. Lexa glances over her shoulder to find Clarke with her gun raised, ready to back her up. Lexa nods at her and then rounds the corner, running silently down the aisle towards the two soldiers creeping away from her.

Clarke tenses at how exposed Lexa is and prepares to shoot, but the soldiers don't even hear her running towards their exposed backs. Foolish of them to both be facing the same direction. Lexa raises her right hand and with all her strength sweeps downward, decapitating the soldier on her left in one swing. Before the solder on her right can even fully face her, she stabs upward with her left hand, driving her second sword straight through his heart. Blood gurgles from his mouth and he doesn't even get the chance to make a sound as Lexa pulls her sword from his body and grabs him by the shoulders to lower him gently to the ground. Lexa turns back around to face Clarke. giving her a smirk as she spins the swords in her hands. Clarke giggles at her wife's display and then quickly runs forward to search the pockets of the soldiers, grabbing some more ammunition and a grenade.

The next corner they turn around they find themselves out of the high shelves and in the cold meat display area. Just in front of them, Clarke sees a stairwell door start to crack open, and she quickly pulls Lexa forward, sliding the last few feet across the gap to hide behind one of the counter height level refrigeration units. She peeks around the corner to see one man making hand signals at two others, obviously directing them where to go. Intent on taking out these men silently before they can circle around them, she slips out of her blazer and grabs four knives off a display cart. Trusting that Lexa will have her back, she crouches down and runs forward until she notices the leader twitch towards his weapon. Before he can even bring his gun up, she throws a knife, impaling him right through one of his eyes. His two subordinates get their deaths from a knife to the back of the neck and to the chest, as the last one has time to fully turn around. Clarke remains still and raises her last knife just in case any of the men are alive, but none get up. Before she has time to check on Lexa, she feels a sharp pain on the outside of her ear. Checking to her left, she sees another Mountainman falling backwards with a knife in his chest. She turns back to her right to glare angrily at Lexa as she reaches up to find her ear intact but with a shallow cut dripping blood. While Clarke is thankful that Lexa saved her life, she knows how skilled her wife is with knives, and can't quite tell if it was just an accident or passive aggression about the secrets she had kept. Using her last knife, she pulls her left arm back as far as she can and flicks her wrist to hurl it as hard as she can at Lexa's face.

Lexa had seen the specks of blood darkening Clarke's hand and felt a little regretful at having cut her, no matter how small it was. She can't dwell on her regret for long, however, as the next thing she knows Clarke is hurling a knife towards her face. She drops to the ground, spinning to land on her back with her weapon raised towards the man behind her who is now slumping to the ground with a knife through his mouth.

As Lexa staggers to her feet, she hisses, "That could have killed me!"

"Now you know what it feels like!" Clarke hisses angrily back.

Lexa narrows her eyes at Clarke, and simply huffs, "We'll talk about this later."

Clarke gives Lexa a falsely sweet smile and walks over to help her up. Once they both have their weapons ready, Clarke takes the lead again, leading Lexa down one of the food aisles. When she gets to the end, she thinks she hears footsteps, so she crouches down and peers around the corner. Unfortunately, as she is bending around the corner, her chest pushes into the soup cans on the shelves, and these cans push on the ones on the other side, knocking several off the shelf and onto the ground.

Clarke quickly pulls her head back from sticking out in the aisle and gives Lexa a wide-eyed look. "I didn't touch a thing!"

"You might not have, but they definitely did." Lexa growls as she shoots a quick glare at Clarke's breasts.

Clarke quickly holds her arm protectively across her chest. "You've never complained about them before!"

Before Lexa can reply, gunfire sounds and bullets start hitting areas around them. Lexa and Clarke both turn around and run back down the aisle, half crouched and guns raised. Now that the enemy knows where they are, no need for silence anymore. As they emerge at the other end of the aisle, Lexa faces left and shoots two men quickly and efficiently right in the chest, and Clarke does the same with the men to the right. As they run down the next aisle, Lexa takes lead, leading with her assault rifle as she runs, while Clarke covers their back, running forward with her body twisted around so that she can shoot anyone that tries to follow them.

Bullets start flying, and Lexa takes out three more men in front of her. As she gets to the end of the aisle, she grabs a can of soup and throws it at the elevator button 20 yards away, which lights up with a bright yellow glow. Pausing to check for more soldiers, she waits several seconds until the doors are about to open then makes a break across the open space. Clarke picks off one more man behind them then follows closely behind Lexa, running as quickly as possible to avoid the spray of gunfire following them. Lexa shoots right and Clarke covers left as they rush into the elevator and hug its sides for all the protection they can get.

Clarke jams the button for the second floor and the doors start to close with loud dings as bullets ricochet off the metal. The couple takes the time to reload both their weapons and catch their breath as the elevator travels slowly up, cheery elevator music playing from a speaker in the corner. Clarke huffs and shoots out the speaker then joins Lexa in facing the doors. The two wait anxiously and awkwardly as the elevator slowly ascends to the second floor.

After what seems like hours but is really only a moment, the elevator dings and the doors open. Bullets start flying as the doors pull back, and Clarke and Lexa immediately start firing, picking off any soldiers standing out in the open. Several men crash through the skylights from the roof and Clarke raises her gun to fire at them, picking them off while they are defenseless. Lexa sprays an arc of bullets all around them, but when more men start pouring out of the aisles she grabs Clarke by the back of her blazer and tugs her back into the elevator before they can be overrun.

The couple backs up and continues to shoot people until the elevator doors fully close, leaving them in awkward silence once more.

Hesitantly, Lexa whispers, "I'm sorry about the uh, knife…"

Clarke quickly cuts her off. "I don't want to talk about it."

Lexa nods and faces the door again, but doesn't feel right leaving it at that. Hesitantly, she rests one hand gently on Clarke's shoulder, although her gaze is still directed towards the door. "You know I love your breasts, right?"

"Oh my god." Clarke groans then turns and slams Lexa against the wall of the elevator, kissing her hard. When she pulls away, Lexa is stunned and barely holding herself up against the wall. "I'm not actually mad at you, OK? We're gonna get into fights, but we're in this together, forever. Got it?" Lexa, still wide-eyed, nods quickly, which causes Clarke to smile and give her one more quick peck on the lips. The two resume their positions facing the door with weapons raised, and as soon as the elevator dings and the doors open, they run out.

No soldiers are visible, so the pair quickly runs towards the tall shelves again. Lexa grabs a rifle off one of the fallen soldiers and slings it over her back. "I'll go up."

Clarke looks up from where she is grabbing more rounds for her gun to see Lexa scaling one of the 40 foot high shelves as easily as if it were a tree and she were a monkey. She shakes herself out of the sight to whisper yell, "I'm going clockwise, you got my back?"

Lexa doesn't stop climbing but she does turn her head down to smile brilliantly at Clarke. "Always."

Clarke smiles and then starts making her way up and down and around aisles, slowly picking off any Mountainmen who get in her path. Every once in a while, she hears the echo of a shot from above and knows that Lexa is still alive and has made another kill. After a few minutes of this swift team efficiency they have, Clarke finds fewer men in her path and starts hearing bullets pinging off the ceiling. She runs around the next corner and finds a group of five men all with their guns aimed upwards firing towards her wife. Clarke mercilessly mows them down only to find that Lexa is now up and running down the shelving unit away from the bullets that land all around her.

When Lexa disappears off the top of the shelves, Clarke feels a flash of terror strike through her as she watches Lexa fall and then disappear. With no hesitation, Clarke takes off running through the shelves, barely aware of her surroundings and only focused on reaching Lexa. She feels a bullet tear through the top part of her shoulder and turns around to quickly kill the two men behind her. Once her back is clear, she ignores the pain shooting through her shoulder and continues running down the aisle, taking a right when she hears the sound of a smaller caliber gun firing.

As Clarke was running to Lexa, the brunette was holding her stomach with one hand and firing off rounds with her smaller gun at any Mountainmen she could see. When her immediate attackers were neutralized, she dragged herself a few feet into a corner where she was mostly protected. When she looks down at her stomach, she finds that her vest has stopped the bullet in the middle, but the wind was knocked out of her from the shot and she will most definitely have one hell of a bruise. On the right side of her stomach, she is bleeding sluggishly from a bullet wound, which she tries to apply pressure to until she feels a sharp pain from her left shoulder. Unwilling to set her gun down, she half-heartedly pokes her left shoulder with the tips of her fingers but she doesn't need full range to know that she has dislocated it yet again.

Suddenly, Clarke slides up next to her, dropping her gun to grab both sides of Lexa's face. Lexa can barely hear Clarke's concern through the loud pumping of her heart, but she can clearly see the distress and fear in her eyes.

Raising her good arm with a grunt, Lexa shoots an approaching man over Clarke's shoulder. Clarke grabs her gun and wraps her arm around Lexa to drag her to her feet, grunting at the new stress on her bullet wound.

Still half supporting Lexa with one arm and gun raised with the other, Clarke heads towards the gardening section, firing off bullets to help cover their retreat. They duck behind a large pile of fertilizer and trade shots with approaching soldiers, forcing them to take cover so that Clarke and Lexa can make a break for it.

Without needing any communication, Lexa pulls herself up and runs as best she can towards a nearby display shed. Clarke shoots anyone who pops up and Lexa does as well, but she still takes a few more bullets to her vest, grunting in pain each time. Once Lexa is halfway there, Clarke takes off after her, taking a slightly different route to draw more fire away from her injured wife. She jumps through a Christmas display, knocking over two trees and smashing a plastic Santa, but manages to stay on her feet. She comes into contact with several more soldiers who she is able to shoot, but takes several more hits to her bullet proof vest. However, she manages to stagger into the shed only a few seconds after Lexa.

Clarke collapses in pain onto a sack of mulch and starts tearing at her now shredded blazer and button up shirt trying to suck in as much air to breath through the pain. Lexa quickly slams the door shut as bullets start hitting the side of the shed and rips off her own destroyed shirt just like Clarke. When she sees the red stain on Clarke's shoulder, she quickly crawls over to check on her wife. Using her good arm, she applies pressure to the wound.

Clarke sees Lexa's wound and pulls some bandages and medical tape from her cleavage. At Lexa's raised eyebrow, she smiles and shrugs; it's a good place to store stuff and it's not her fault she was born with it. Lexa takes some of the gauze and packs it into her bullet wound, taping it in place over the exit and entry wound. Clarke then takes the last half of the gauze and tape and applies it to Lexa's stomach wound. Quickly, she pops Lexa's shoulder back in place and then starts ripping up strips of her shirt to tie around the last of her own grazes.

Lexa grunts as Clarke pops her shoulder back into place but is well used to it by now. She knows she should make a sling, but they can't afford for her to only have the use of one arm. While Clarke continues patching herself up, she slowly sneaks to the front of the shed and looks through the bullet holes to check on what is happening outside. She starts counting the soldiers and making note of their positions until she gets to 30, then she gives up.

Crawling carefully back over to Clarke, she helps tie a strip of shirt over a bullet graze on Clarke's arm. Once she has tied the knot tightly and given it a gentle pat, she starts reload the guns she has left. Clarke does the same, and the two work quickly in silence for a moment, until Clarke breaks it.

"How's it look out there?"

Lexa slams a magazine into one of her guns and looks up to make eye contact with Clarke. "Piece of cake for _Heda_ and _Wanheda_."

Clarke smiles at the smug grin Lexa has on her face, knowing that her wife is lying even if there are no outward signs of it. "Your left shoulder is hurt, so take right, and I'll cover left, OK? Use a smaller gun in your left hand, and this rifle is the lightest you can use it in your right." Lexa nods and takes the gun from Clarke, trading her for one of the heavier guns she won't be able to lift.

Clarke goes to lift a strap over her shoulder and winces as it presses on her bullet wound, so Lexa takes it from her and sets it over her right. "Do you still have the grenade?" When Clarke nods, Lexa holds out her hand for it. "You're left-handed and your shoulder is injured." Clarke sighs and reluctantly relinquishes the grenade, accepting Lexa's logic.

Lexa jumps to her feet and pockets the grenade, wanting to throw it when more Mountainmen clump together. Clarke pushes herself to her feet as well and is immediately met with Lexa's lips. Clarke pushes forward, kissing Lexa back, and tries to pull their bodies together but is obstructed but all the weapons they are carrying. Lexa pulls back with a small smile and rests her forehead on Clarke's, opening her eyes to gaze upon blue for what may be the last time. Inches away, blue eyes stare intently back, meeting green. Clarke's smile grows bigger when she sees the black smudge of "war paint" on the tip of Lexa's nose, knowing that it must have smudged from her own.

Lexa's eyes drop to Clarke's lips one more time, then her cheeks which are adorably smudged with black from her own "war paint", then back to her eyes, memorizing the face of the woman she loves with her entire heart; memorizing the face of her soul mate. It's that thought that prompts her into speaking.

"Death is not the end. I'll see you in the next life, _Klark_."

Clarke smiles, remembering the secret Lexa had revealed earlier that day, and nuzzles her nose one last time before pulling back and whispering, "May we meet again."

With one last grim smile, the two ready their weapons and face the door. With a nod from Clarke, Lexa pushes open the door and runs out after her wife.

Clarke immediately starts shooting, taking out the semicircle of soldiers 20 yards in front of her. Bullets start flying past them from other soldiers, and Lexa quickly returns fire, firing off a few quick shots to the left to help Clarke and then returning to the right, spraying bullets at any sign of movement until she runs out.

As if they planned it, Lexa ducks to grab another weapon and Clarke pivots in a circle, firing a rapid stream of bullets in a circle and over her wife's back. Men continue to fall as Lexa holds up both her weapons in front of her and continues to pick off more and more Mountainmen. Clarke looks up and spots two men on the balcony fumbling with a grenade launcher. With only a gentle hand on Lexa's back as an indication, the two drop to a crouch simultaneously as the other soldiers stop firing and a projectile flies only a few inches over their heads, impacting with a fiery explosion into the shed where they had taken refuge.

As wood chips start raining down on them, Clarke drops her empty gun and pulls out two smaller ones, standing to face Lexa to fires at both sides while Lexa fires over Clarke's shoulders at the men aiming for the blonde's back. When the gun in her right hand runs out of bullets, she nods at Clarke, and the two pivot in opposite directions, going back to back. As Lexa comes around, she drops her gun and slides the grenade from her pocket, chucking it at an approaching group of men. They scream in pain as it explodes right in the middle of their group, but Lexa ignores it, instead hunching over as pain lances through her injured side.

Fortunately that Lexa had ducked, for a second grenade flies just through the path her head was just previously occupying. Clarke stops firing at the men in front of her long enough to point the gun strapped to Lexa's back at the two idiots on the second floor with the grenade launcher. As they fall, Clarke pulls out her last gun and starts advancing towards the last few men in front of her.

As she is already bent over, Lexa grabs the knife strapped to her ankle and hurls it at an approaching man. With the smoke swirling around them, he doesn't see the knife and drops to the ground with it impaled in his neck. Squinting through the smoke to see the last remaining soldiers, Lexa pulls the gun strapped to her back and raises it at the last remaining soldiers in her line of sight. Just as she finishes putting a bullet through the last one's head, she hears the tell tale click of an empty gun. Quickly, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a magazine, tossing it to Clarke without looking.

As soon as her last gun is empty, Clarke turns to Lexa, immediately finding a magazine flying in a low arc towards her. She catches it in one hand while the other releases the empty, and slams it in. A bullet grazes her thigh but she just calmly raises her gun and shoots the offender. As she looks around for more soldiers, she starts backing up towards Lexa. The brunette does the same, and the two meet in the center of their ring of destruction, backs touching and slowly spinning in a circle until a minute has passed and all remains silent. The shed behind them is still on fire, and several more fires are burning from the grenades. Dead bodies litter the area, dropped guns and used bullets litter the ground, a shelf has fallen and knocked its contents everywhere, and the smell of blood and death permeates the air. Panting harshly but in synch, the couple leans their backs into each other with utter exhaustion and finally lowers their weapons to their sides.


	37. Together

"Are you sure this will work?" an angry looking Pike questions Dante Wallace as he glares at the older man.

Dante Wallace refuses to answer, still in a stupor over the call he had recently received telling him that his son was dead.

"Of course it will work." Nia smirks back. "Two women cannot survive against the size of the force we sent against them."

"Do not underestimate the power of _Heda_ and _Wanheda_." Titus sagely replies.

"They are human, nothing more." Thelonious retorts, steepling his fingers in front of him and tapping the pads of his fingers together as he waits for news.

The odd group waits in silence, refusing to interact more due to the hatreds they share amongst them. Pike keeps his hand on the gun at his hip, eyeing Titus and Nia, expecting them to make a move towards him at any minute. Nia switches her cold gaze between Dante and Pike, while Thelonious and Titus are the only ones who manage to maintain outward neutrality. Dante, who has now sagged noticeably in his chair, refuses to look at anyone and instead stares intently at the woodgrain in table.

When the door bangs open suddenly, Pike jumps to his feet with his weapon raised as Clarke bursts through the door, a weapon raised in each hand.

" _Wanheda_." Titus growls.

"Clarke?" Thelonious questions, shocked to not only see her here but in war paint. When he notices Pike's position, he grabs Pike's arm to force his weapon down.

Nia pulls a gun and points it at Clarke but before she can get to her feet a knife impales her throat. Her eyes widen in shock and pain as blood dribbles out of the corner of her mouth. Lexa steps out from behind Clarke just in time to see Nia's eyes close for the last time.

Upon seeing Lexa, Pike punches Thelonious in the face and raises his gun once more, but Clarke pulls the trigger, shooting him right between the eyes. His body slumps forward and slams into the ground, the thud of his head hitting the ground loud in the now silent room.

Lexa is the first to move, striding towards Titus and grabbing him by the front of his robes and shoving him up against the wall, tightening one hand around his throat.

"What is the meaning of this, _Fleimkepa_." She growls at Titus as he refuses to meet her eyes. When he doesn't answer, she grabs his face with her other hand and forces him to meet her heated gaze.

" _Heda, beja_ …" Titus pleads, but when Lexa makes no move other than to bring a knife to his neck, Titus finally begins to speak. "This war with the _Skaikru_ would have destroyed you, _Heda_. The Coalition was one thing, but a treaty with the Skaikru? The people would not have accepted it. The clans were already becoming discontent with your failure to eliminate the Mountain and _Wanheda_. When Thelonious came to me with a way to eliminate _Wanheda_ , I had to take it. My duty is to protect the _Heda_."

"I _am_ _Heda_ , Titus. Your duty was to protect _me_ , to protect _Leksa_ , to trust that I was doing what was right for our people." A tear rolls down Lexa's face as she realizes that she will have to kill the man who helped raise her, one of her closest advisors and protectors. Despite his recent misgivings towards her decisions, he had always been by her side, and she had never thought that he would be capable of this.

Meanwhile, Clarke is confronting Thelonious on the other side of the room with her gun raised at his chest. "I know what you did to my father." Clarke growls, trying to hide the trembling of her lower lip. " _You_ had him killed for wanting to save our people. You were friends with my parents for 20 years and were on the Council together for 10, but you threw that all away trying to keep power and keep making money over the good of our people!"

Thelonious remains calm, not truly believing that Clarke will kill him, despite the knowledge he has of her numerous successful missions. His arrogance will be his downfall. "Clarke, I was just doing what was right for our people. Sometimes being in command means making difficult decisions, but…" Thelonious is cut off as a gunshot sounds through the quiet room. The man is confused for a moment, until he looks down at his chest where a dark red stain is now spreading across his crisp white shirt.

Clarke lowers her gun and stalks forward as Thelonious drops to his knees. "My father's life was not yours to take. Neither is mine." Thelonious slumps the rest of the way to the ground and Clarke doesn't even bother to close his eyes as she turns away from him, only to find Lexa standing there waiting for her.

As soon as she had heard the gun shot go off, Lexa had panicked and turned around to check on Clarke. Her grip around Titus' neck had loosened only slightly as she ensured that her wife was safe, but that was enough for him to try to break free. Unfortunately for the bald man, he had trained Lexa too well, and she had known what she had to do as soon as she heard of his betrayal, despite her misgivings. As soon as he twitches, she cuts his throat and steps back to avoid the spray of blood as much as possible.

Lexa doesn't even stay long enough to watch her father-figure bleed out before she strides over to check on Clarke. When the blonde turns around to meet her, tear filled blue meet weary green. " _Jus drein jus daun_." Lexa whispers and Clarke rushes to embrace her wife in relief.

Lexa catches movement over Clarke's shoulder and finds Dante picking up Pike's gun. She quickly turns to shield Clarke with her own body, but Clarke feels the stiffness in the brunette and breaks free to stand at her side, refusing to allow her wife to protect her.

As soon as she sees Dante gripping a gun, she raises her own, but the old man is not pointing it at them, just holding it loosely in his right hand. "I guess it's too late to ask for mercy for my people, isn't it?" He laughs ruefully, finally raising his despondent eyes towards to the two women.

"No, it's not." Clarke says.

"Yes." Lexa says at the exact same time as her wife.

Clarke glares at Lexa and is about to argue, but Dante interrupts. "Don't bother, Clarke. You're married to a savage, what do you expect other than ruthlessness?"

Lexa refuses to allow a dead man's words to hurt her, but Clarke still squeezes the brunette's hand in comfort. "Lexa is _not_ a savage. She united the 12 Clans. She's making peace with us. Blood does not always need more blood."

Dante taps the gun on the table and waves his free hand towards Lexa. "Ah, but see, your wife doesn't agree with you, does she? _Jus drein jus daun_ , eh Commander?"

Clarke turns to look at Lexa but finds the brunette clenching her jaw and refusing to meet Clarke's blue-eyed gaze. "Lexa, there are innocent people here. We can't just kill them!"

Lexa squeezes Clarke's hand tightly, holding her in place as she finally meets her gaze. "The Mountainmen have been killing us for over a century, Clarke. Decades longer than our fight with your people. The recent massacre of 300 of our warriors by the _Skaikru_ will be difficult for the Coalition to overlook, but I will be able to make them see reason. _Skaikru_ assisted in the downfall of our greatest enemy, and most still fear the power of _Wanheda_. This victory over the Mountain today will provide enough vengeance to sate my people. _Jus drein jus daun_ has always been our way, and it's the service we provide to the people who pay us. None of the people in this Mountain are innocent; they have been living off my people for generations."

Clarke tries to release Lexa's hand in anger, but feels Lexa only grip it tighter. She spits her next words at Lexa, unable to hold back her anger at the situation. "What about those who aren't warriors, the parents, the children? You're just going to slaughter them? When does the cycle of violence end?"

Lexa manages to keep her voice at a normal tone, but her words are stern. "What would you have me do, _Klark_? Release them to the world where they can tell their story to the public? Waste resources imprisoning them? Attempt to integrate them into the Clans, where they will only face persecution and likely assassination? Every single person in here harbors a hatred towards us. I cannot allow any of them to go free and risk them becoming a future threat to my people. Leaving them alive to wage future war on us is not ending the cycle of violence; it's perpetuating it. My duty to protect my own people comes first, not to save everyone. You can't save everyone, _Klark_."

Clarke realizes that Lexa is right, but she still tries to think of a way to save the innocents. She doesn't think she can live with the responsibility of exterminating an entire race of people, nor with the thought that she doesn't know what truly distinguishes her from the Mountainmen anymore. They were just doing what they had to in order to survive, just like she is now.

Lexa glances at Dante but finds him watching them in a nonthreatening manner, gun flat on the table and no longer in his hands. She keeps his form in her peripherals just in case he makes a move towards them, but otherwise focuses her gaze on Clarke as she steps closer to her wife. "We have the power to change our people for the better, but it can't happen all at once. _Klark_ , the peace amongst the clans of the Coalition and the _Skaikru_ without threat from the Mountainmen is already an unprecedented era for our people."

"The first step towards peace. An era when blood does not always have to have blood." Clarke murmurs.

Lexa smirks and presses her forehead to Clarke's own. "Well, we are still assassins, _Klark_."

"Too bad you won't be there to usher that new peace in with your people; that's the last thing I can give me people. Well, that and a quick, merciful death they won't see coming." Dante sighs as he picks up the gun. Before Clarke or Lexa can do anything, Dante puts the gun to his temple and pulls the trigger. The old man's head slumps backwards over the chair, and Clarke looks away from the gruesome sight, but her eyes land on his phone which is now blinking on the table.

The blonde rushes over and picks up the smartphone, only to have her eyes widen in horror. "Lexa, he's activated the self-destruct button."

"How much time do we have left?" Lexa questions, focused and back in Commander mode.

"Two minutes."

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Octavia questions Raven, who is currently focusing on hovering her latest invention – some sort of helicopter airplane hybrid – just outside the top of the mountain.

"Yes, O. It's going to work. I've run the simulations." Raven grunts out as she finally steadies the plane and flips the switch to transfer control to Octavia, who holds the plane steady while Raven starts pulling up her latest invention.

"But you haven't field tested it yet?" Octavia asks skeptically.

"Wait, we're about to risk my daughter's life on something you haven't even tested in a controlled environment?" Abby's voice screeches through the radio.

"If you kill Lexa, your death will be a long and painful one, _Reivon_." Anya threatens over the air waves as well.

"Can everyone just focus on their own jobs of delaying their armies from starting a war while I do mine of rescuing the only ones who can stop it? Gosh, way to lay the pressure on." Raven grumbles as she keeps typing away. Seconds later, flaps on the underbelly of the plane open and a large gun flies out. "Well, here goes nothing." Raven sighs as she presses a button and large harpoon like object flies from the gun and into the side of the mountain.

Raven pulls up the diagnostic screen and reads out the feedback as she gets it. "OK, infrared has two people and several fresh corpses in one room near the very top of the Mountain, so that's what I aimed for, knowing Clexa. The harpoon made it past 99% of the wall, now just to deploy the prongs." Raven presses a button, but nothing happens. She starts typing frantically on the computer, but nothing happens.

"Raven…" Octavia hisses, waiting for something to happen.

"I'm trying O! The hooks won't release into the open position." Suddenly, a noise sounds and Raven cheers in excitement. "Alright! It worked! Now here's the best part. So it's basically a giant grappling hook, but the hooks are held tight to the body of the projectile until I press a button to release them. All along the inner edge of the hooks are explosives that are revealed as the hooks open up inside the wall. When I detonate the bombs, it should blow the wall outwards instead of inwards."

"I think I'm in love." Anya murmurs quietly, just audible over the radio.

"Easy girl." Raven chuckles. "That bomb you built in the elevator was beautiful, and you're great in bed, but it's still a little early for that."

"Not with you, _branwada_ , I'm talking about the weapon." Anya hisses.

"Well I invented and built the weapon, soooooo…"

Abby interrupts their verbal sparring diplomatically. "Raven, sweetie, we get it, you're a genius with explosives, can you just get my daughter out of there?"

Raven grumbles but listens to Abby and presses another button, resulting in a large explosion near the top of the mountain. Octavia struggles to hold the plane steady as the explosion tears apart the mountain to which the grappling hook is attached to, but after half a minute the explosion stops and the two brunettes are left looking at a small hole in the wall with the grappling hook resting on the floor.

"What's your plan for getting them back in the plane?" Octavia asks, as two figures stumble frantically towards the grappling hook.

"Well, I made this out of wurtzite boron nitride, so it should have mostly survived the blast as it's highly resistant to shock and the hardest material in the world, so all we have to do is reel them in as soon as they grab on."

"Wait, no one in the world is making that! How did you synthesize it?" Anya yells in disbelief.

"Well, I'm not too bad at chemistry myself, but I've got a real good friend who is a chemistry god." Raven gleefully tells the dirty blonde.

"Can you please stop this… nerd foreplay or whatever this is and get on with the rescue mission?" Indra growls.

"Yeah, Rae, Clexa is waving pretty frantically. We should probably reel them in." Octavia says as she gently nudge's Raven's shoulder to direct her attention to the two figures holding onto the grappling hook prongs and waving their free arms.

"OK, whatever." Raven presses a button and the metal cable immediately retracts, jerking the cable suddenly. One of the figures flies off in midair but is quickly grabbed by the other, and the two fortunately manage to hold on as they are reeled in. "Whoops, almost lost Lexa. Good thing she's with the Sky Princess. I guess I should make some modifications on the reeling in mechanism."

Raven's chuckle is interrupted by a large boom and an explosive wave, but fortunately Octavia still has the wheel and instinctively steadies the plane while also steering it up and away from the flames and explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Abby yells over the radio, but Raven is too busy staring in awe as the entire mountain collapses into a fiery inferno like a volcano and Octavia is too busy trying to control the plane.

"The self-destruct mechanism of the Mountain." Clarke answers her mother's question as she steps into the cockpit.

"Clarkey!" The two brunettes yell in happiness as they leap to their feet to tackle her onto the floor in a hug.

"I told you not to call me that!" Clarke growls as she struggles to escape from underneath her two best friends, which only proves more difficult as the plane starts leaning to the left from being unattended.

Fortunately, Lexa was right behind Clarke and steps over the pile of friends to grab the wheel and right the plane. She is not familiar with the technology on the plane, but manages to mute Abby and pull up the video conference feature to send her orders to Anya. "General, show me the ambassadors."

" _Sha Heda_." Anya replies formally. Quickly, she pulls up the video feed into the conference room where the 11 ambassadors and Prince Roan are waiting. At first they are confused seeing their over video conference and covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, but she holds herself as confidently and regal as ever.

Lexa stares directly into the camera, ignoring the question looks the ambassadors send her as they see Clarke and her two friends getting to their feet in the background. "Ambassadors, our greatest enemy, the Mountainmen, have been destroyed! With the help of _Wanheda_ and _Skaikru,_ we are now unburdened by our greatest enemy! Without the shadow of the Mountain hanging over us, we will be able to flourish as never before!" Lexa's words of victory ring out strongly, even though she is not physically in the room with her people. "In the spirit of friendship and harmony, I offer _Klark kom Skaikru_ , legendary _Wanheda_ mountain slayer, _houmon gon Heda_ and her people a seat at our table. In a week's time, we shall hold a summit initiating the _Skaikru_ into the Coalition and formally initiating _Klark_ as _Hedatu_." Lexa pauses for a moment, expecting angry outbursts, but only sees shock as the ambassadors gape at her. "I am pleased that no one objects, as I have already dealt with two coup plotters today. Speaking of, I shall be needing a new _Fleimkepa_." Lexa glares at her ambassadors, ensuring that they have received her message, and then focuses on one man. "Prince Roan, it is fortunate that you are present in Polis, as it shall only speed up your coronation. Queen Nia is dead, long live the King."

The room remains completely silent, until Indra and Anya start chanting, "long live the King." Soon, the rest of the ambassadors chime in, and Lexa allows her lips to quirk up in the smallest smile as she orders Anya, Gustus, and Indra to handle things while she is still away. When she shuts down the video she swivels her chair to face the three women, one of who is gazing at her in adoration and the other two in awe.

"Holy shit you're actually the Commander." Raven mumbles while Octavia is still too in shock to reply.

Clarke pulls Lexa to her feet and wraps her in a tight embrace, which the brunette returns. As the plane once again tilts, Octavia and Raven quickly maneuver around the couple to take the helm yet again, level the plane off, and it point it back to Arkadia.

"Thank you for saving my people, Lexa." Clarke murmurs into wild brunette locks.

Lexa loosens her grip on Clarke to pull back just enough that she is able to look her wife in the eyes. "I told you, _Klark_ , your people are my people."

Clarke leans forward and presses a deep kiss to Lexa's lips, only pulling away when Raven and Octavia start fake gagging obnoxiously loud. Clarke rolls her eyes in mock annoyance but still nuzzles Lexa's nose with her own. "When you were speaking, you called me _Hedatu_. What does that mean?"

Lexa blushes slightly and nuzzles against Clarke's cheek, trying to hide from the blonde's too observant eyes. "I know I should have asked you first, but… I want you to be more than _houmon gon Heda_. You are my equal, _Klark_. If I make you Hedatu, then you can rule beside me. Not only will your people be my people, but my people will become _your_ people as well."

When Lexa tentatively meets Clarke's eyes, Clarke smiles and leans in for a slow kiss as she grabs Lexa's right hand with her left and intertwines their fingers as she hums happily, "Hmmm, Heda and Wanheda ruling together, I like the sound of that."


	38. Unity Day

Clarke and Lexa are interrupted from their loving moment by Raven. "Uh… Clarke? We have a minor problem."

Clarke immediately pulls from Lexa's arms and steps up next to Raven's chair. "What is it?"

Raven pulls up the video monitor where Abby is angrily screaming at the camera while Marcus is trying to calm her in the background, but no sound is heard. "Momma G is _pissed_. Lexa muted her, but she didn't mute us. I'm guessing she's not as keen about this Coalition thing as you are."

Clarke sighs and pulls up the video conference. As soon as she is visible to Abby, the older woman visibly calms.

"Clarke sweetie, are you alright?"

"Yes Mom, I'm fine. Lexa's fine too. As are Raven and Octavia." Clarke watches as Abby barely glances at Lexa and then smiles as soon as she sees Raven and Octavia focusing on flying the plane.

"That's good. But I still want to give you a check-up as soon as you get back to Arkadia."

Clarke rolls her eyes at her mother's overbearing nature. "Moooom, I'm fine." She whines, feeling like she is back in high school once more. "Did you hear everything about the Coalition?"

Abby frowns at her daughter, not wanting to discuss this information in front of Lexa. "Clarke, I don't think now is the time…"

Clarke is confused by her mother's expression not understanding the older woman's hesitance at first, but when she does, she becomes so angry that she can't speak.

Lexa picks up on the distrust of her mother-in-law, and ever the diplomat, she attempts to ease it, trusting that Clarke will convince the woman that it is imperative that the Skaikru fully embrace the offer that was made to them. "I'll leave and let you guys talk."

"No!" Clarke shouts, face softening as she turns around and grabs Lexa's hand. "We're on the same side, now. You don't have to leave." Lexa's small, half-smile forms, drawing out Clarke's full blown smile. Once again, their moment together doesn't last long.

"Clarke, we have already discussed this. The Council has voted, and we aren't going to make peace or join the Coalition or whatever it is you want us to do! I am not putting our people at risk and under control of a cruel dictator!"

Clarke doesn't need to see Lexa to know that her stoic mask has slipped into place to her impatience with her mother-in-law. "A cruel dictator? That's rich, coming from you! Our own Chancellor was a cruel dictator, who tried to have me _killed_ because I wouldn't blindly follow his orders while he put power and money over the good of our people. And you, you sent my father on a mission that got him killed! The Council makes decisions with no input from the people at all. We get one chance to join the Coalition, and this is it; they will forgive the deaths of their people because _Wanheda_ brought down the Mountain, but that offer won't last if we continue to kill their people and compete for clients. This is our chance to become the 13th Clan and save the people we have left from slaughter!"

" _Klark_ is right, _Abbi kom Skaikru_." Lexa tells the woman with no sign of the anger or exasperation she is feeling. "We have connections, outposts, and manpower that your company simply does not, while you have technology that would benefit us. If we do not form a mutually beneficial relationship now, we will only become enemies in the future."

Abby finally moves away from the camera and sits down in her chair. "The 13th Clan? Does that mean that we follow Lexa?"

"Yes." Clarke replies, which elicits a frown from Abby.

For the first time, Marcus jumps into the conversation, although he at least looks open to the discussion, unlike his lover. "What does that mean in regard to leadership and laws?"

Lexa knew she had liked the man for a reason. He had always acted with honor and a true desire for peace. "I am the Commander of all the clans, but I respect and acknowledge each clan's different forms of government. Each clan has an ambassador, and together we settle disputes, assign jobs, share knowledge of technology and training, and create Coalition-wide laws. In times of war, I have the power to take control of each clan's army so that I may act swiftly and decisively, and I hold veto power and break ties in votes. Each Clan still has its own leader."

Marcus looks pleased with her answer, but Abby still looks skeptical.

Clarke is desperate to convince her mother; she doesn't want to find herself on the opposite side of Lexa in a war, especially because she knows that Lexa would protect her with all the powers of the Commander, even if it endangered her own. "Mom, this is our Unity Day. We can be the 13th Clan, or our people can be slaughtered. We don't stand a chance against the armies of the Coalition, and there's no way the animosity of our people will be held in check by a simple treaty. We _need_ the protection of the Commander and the Coalition."

Abby looks to Marcus, who is only giving her encouraging looks. "So we become the 13th Clan… What's going to protect our people from those who seek retribution on us?"

Clarke hates what she had to do to gain the titles she now holds, but she knows that they are important for the power they give her. " _Wanheda_ , the Mountain Slayer."

"Abby, the Coalition is not just a group of people who made peace with each other. It's a sharing of knowledge and resources. The peace is self-regulating, because those who step out of line face not just one enemy, but 11. Am I correct, Commander?" When Lexa confirms the man's thoughts with a stoic nod, he continues trying to convince the stubborn woman that it will be worth it in the long run to give up some of their autonomy. "If we have peace, our numbers can finally rebound to even greater than when our company first started out. We have to do what's best for them!"

Abby carefully thinks over everything that she has been told, and knows what she has to do. When she meets the pleading blue eyes of her daughter, she gives her a tentative but hopeful smile. "Clarke, you know the Chancellor has the power to override any decision that Marcus and I may make, but I will do my best to convince Thelonious. OK?"

Clarke grimaces and breaks eye-contact with her mother. "Well, about that…"

* * *

Two hours later, Clarke finally gets the chance to sit down. Unfortunately, it's in the medical bay with her mother about to examine her, but after the exhausting past few days, she's almost beyond caring.

As soon as the plane had landed at Arkadia, she and Lexa had been swiftly swept into the conference room to talk with the two remaining Council members and all the senior agents. She and Lexa had led the discussion, argued with dissenters, and cajoled the Skaikru into finally accepting that joining the Coalition was in the best interest of their people. Shortly after, Marcus had been picked up by a grumbling Gustus and brought to Polis, where he could meet the representatives of the 12 Clans and start negotiating about the resources the Skaikru had and where they could use assistance.

Once Marcus and the other agents had left, Clarke had been left alone with her still angry mother and wife who now had control over all their people. Lexa didn't waste any time in pulling out her cell phone and making an "important" call to Polis. Even though she was talking in Trigedasleng, Lexa was still her wife and Clarke knew the brunette was just trying to avoid her mother-in-law. Unfortunately, with Lexa busy on the phone, Clarke had no excuse to deny her mother the medical examination that she knew she needed but did not want.

Abby rolls a tray of medical tools next to the examination table that Clarke is sitting on and settles herself down onto a rolling stool. Forcing herself to enter doctor mode, Abby tries to ignore the fact that her daughter, her _little girl_ , is covered in blood, dirt, and injuries. "It might be easier if you shower first, but I want to check you out and clean your injuries, OK?"

Clarke sighs but mumbles "OK," knowing that her mother isn't going to be happy with the injuries that she finds.

Abby grabs a soft cloth and dips it into a bowl of soapy water and starts to gently sponge away the heavy eye black around Clarke's eyes and on her nose. There are some lighter streaks on Clarke's cheeks, which confuse her for a moment, until she realizes that it's smudges from Lexa's war paint. This explains why the Commander had a tiny black smudge on her nose, and Abby quickly shuts off that line of thinking, as she knows but doesn't want to imagine how the two smudged their war paint all over each other's faces.

Clarke zones out as her mother cleans her face, as the pain radiating from what feels like her entire body finally hits her. When a bright light shines in her eyes, she flinches and quickly blinks, trying to get the white spots out of her vision. "Mom, what the hell?"

"You definitely have a concussion. You should have a CT of your brain just to be sure that there's no bleeding. And what is all this black paint on your face for?"

"It's war paint. Lexa did it for me."

"I can see that." Abby mumbles as she picks up a cotton ball, pours some alcohol on it, and dabs at the cut running along Clarke's cheek bone. Little does the older woman know that the cut came from her daughter-in-law's fist.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clarke growls, pulling away as fire sears through her cheek.

"Clarke, honey… I just worry about you. The things we have heard about the Commander… You deserve so much more than she can give you. She is always going to put her work first."

"What's this really about, Mom?" Clarke glares at her mother, knowing that she should have confronted the woman about the dislike of her wife long before this. "Because you have never liked Lexa, even before you knew she was the Commander. Is it because she's a girl? Because she's driven and successful? What is it really? Because you're the only blood relative I have left after you got Dad killed, but I will never speak to you again if you don't accept my choice in partner. Because I love her so much Mom, and I know you don't see it, but she loves me too. And she makes me happy, and takes care of me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her." By the time Clarke finishes, tears are rolling down her cheeks and her lip is trembling with anger and sadness.

Abby can't stop her own tears and she pulls her daughter in for a long hug, gently rubbing her back until both of their tears stop. When Clarke's arms loosen around her, Abby pulls back and gently places her hands on both of Clarke's beautiful round cheeks, wiping the tears away with her thumbs. "I didn't know it was him. Thelonious didn't tell us which agent would be going on the mission until after we voted on if the mission risks were acceptable for the possible rewards. I never wanted your father to be in such a dangerous situation, but how could I say no after I already approved it for another agent?" Abby hangs her head, knowing that she had failed her husband and daughter, but the war with the Grounders had been so bad, and they had just been trying to survive. When she finally meets her daughter's eyes, they hold some measure of understanding, but still anger, and Abby knows that she owes both Clarke and Lexa an apology for how unfairly she had treated her daughter-in-law. "Clarke… I know you love her. And you know that I have never cared if your significant others were male or female or neither gender. I only want you to be happy, and…"

When her mother trails off, Clarke whispers, "but I _am_ happy. With _Lexa_."

"I know that. But you were both so involved with your jobs, and I never wanted you to have to choose the way I did. I wanted you to have something that was safe and normal, not someone who was just as involved in their job as you were in yours. I didn't want you to have to make a choice between your partner and the good of your people.

"But that's part of the reason I fell in love with her. She always understood the struggles I had with leadership and protecting my people. We connected on a deeper level, even if we didn't know why. She's my soulmate." Clarke can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "It all makes sense now, because she was dealing with the exact same situation, just on a grander scale." Abby is tentatively smiling at her now, and Clarke hopes that moving forward things are going to be better for her family.

"I know she feels the same about you, or you wouldn't have married her." Abby tells her daughter, no longer afraid that her daughter is going to leave her.

"Mmhmm." Clarke hums, tired but content that everything is falling into place.

"I promise I'll work on the Lexa situation, OK? Just give me some time to accept that my daughter-in-law is now in charge of me." Both women share a small chuckle, which makes Clarke wince as pain shoots through her injuries. Abby gives the younger blonde a stern glance. "Where did you get all these injuries? I thought you didn't have much resistance in the Mountain? I'm going to need to look at those ribs closer."

"Nooo Mom, I'm way too old for you to see me naked!"

Abby shoves a gown and a clean pair of underwear into Clarke's hands and pulls the curtain around the bed. "Clarke, I gave birth to you, and I am a doctor. Now hurry up, you better be done by the time I get back with the portable machines."

Clarke groans but slowly pushes herself to her feet and strips off her clothes, wincing as she aggravates her injuries trying to pull the blood encrusted clothing off her tired and sore body. She doesn't even know why she bothers to put the gown on, as she has wounds over her entire body.

Abby makes sure to make plenty of noise as she wheels the machines back, then rips open the curtain, happy to find that her daughter followed her instructions, but knowing that the compliance most likely means that her girl has more injuries than that which are obvious.

"Let's start from your head and work our way down, OK? And I need you to be honest about your injuries so I can properly treat them."

Clarke internally winces, knowing that this may ruin her mother's new opinion towards Lexa. "Weeeeell… Lexa and I… Let's just say that we… reacted… unfavorably, when we found out who the other was. Then we invaded a prison, were attacked by Mountainmen, and invaded the Mountain, then were reeled in like fish on Raven's harpoon, so…"

Abby wishes that her daughter was not in these dangerous situations, but had come to terms with the fact that Clarke was extremely competent and nothing could stop her. When Clarke takes off her gown though, leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear, Abby wants to kill whoever put the bruises, cuts, and burns on her baby's body. Without saying anything, Abby hooks Clarke up to an IV and gives her some fluids and a heavy dose of morphine. Once Clarke's eyes have dulled from the drug, Abby begins to clean Clarke's wounds, and Clarke answers the silent question of how she sustained each injury.

Dark bruising covers almost the entirety of Clarke's forehead. "Lexa slammed my face into the wall when I tried to elbow her in her beautiful face. And my elbow went through the dry wall." Clarke pouts and holds up her bruised elbow in her mother's face, and Abby gently moves it away so she can continue working.

Abby notices a small cut on Clarke's ear, already scabbed over, but she still cleans the cut. "Lexa misthrew a knife."

Carefully, Abby stitches the cut on her daughter's cheek, ensuring that she will have minimal scaring. "Lexa punched me in the face. Her arms look so thin but she's so strong."

When Abby notices the large hickey on neck and a bite mark on her right shoulder, she tries to move past those without eliciting the now over talkative Clarke, but has no such luck. "I wouldn't recommend sitting at the dining room table anymore." Clarke giggles out and Abby groans, debating whether she should just knock Clarke out, but she doesn't want to miss any of her injuries. Knowing that her ribs were hurting, Abby undoes Clarke's gown and sets it aside, only to face the full reality that Clarke is covered even further in cuts and bruises than she had imagined.

There's a through and through bullet on her left shoulder. Abby carefully examines and cleans the wound, waiting for Clarke to speak, but the girl doesn't say anything until Abby has stitched and bandaged both front and back wounds. "I thought she was dead. I thought the Mountainmen had killed her, and I…"

Abby doesn't want Clarke to get worked up and gently soothes her. "Lexa's safe, baby. She's OK. You saved her." As soon as that thought sinks in, Clarke's dopey smile returns as she thinks about her wife, so Abby continues cleaning Clarke's wounds.

Abby ignores the yellowing bruise over Clarke's sternum that she had looked at a few days ago, but can't help but notice the several other bruises that are the same scattered across her front and back. "Thank God for bulletproof vests." Abby mumbles, realizing that this was how many times Clarke could have died last night.

Abby looks up at Clarke and sees that she is practically asleep sitting up, and quickly goes through the rest of her injuries. She stitches up a bullet graze on her thigh and arm and then stitches up a long cut on the underside of her forearm. "Lexa smashed that vase you bought us for Christmas." Clarke mumbles. "But we have to redecorate, so you can pick us out another one. But get one that isn't ugly this time." The mother can't help but smile wryly at her daughter's words, knowing that there is no way she would have told her that if she wasn't drugged up.

As Abby applies some ointment to burns on Clarke's arm, Clarke tells her, "I exploded the kitchen."

Ignoring the fact that Clarke isn't making any sense, Abby checks over Clarke one more time, noting the bruise on her hip and thigh, "Lexa hit me with the car, but I think I jumped in front of it" then makes her way to Clarke's back, where she sees various cuts and bruises "we need new china. And a new China cabinet. Lexa was like the hulk, she's so strong, you know? She went smash smash, but used me to do the smashing." Clarke pouts and Abby winces, but at least these cuts don't need anything other than a quick cleaning, and then Abby is finished. At this point, Clarke is nearly fully asleep sitting upright, and Abby gently lays her down on the bed.

Abby takes the time to clean the rest of Clarke's body and run a few scans, confirming that she has a few hairline fractures in her ribs but no bleeding in her brain. Once she's done, she covers Clarke with a blanket and gives her a kiss on the forehead. As she pulls back, Clarke's eyes wearily blink open and her hand latches onto Abby's wrist.

"Where's my Lexa? You's need to check her out too. I love her so much, she's my warrior goddess, my commander." Clarke slurs out, only releasing Abby's wrist when the woman nods her confirmation of the request.

"I promise I will. Now go to sleep baby, OK?" Abby smiles as Clarke's blue eyes slowly disappear behind heavy lids. She places a quick kiss on Clarke's uninjured cheek and leaves the exam room in search of Lexa. She heads up the elevator to the Council room, but doesn't see or hear the brunette anywhere on that floor, so she takes the stairs one floor down to where the "Delinquents" all have offices. As soon as she steps onto the floor, she hears raised voices, which she follows to the conference room.

Raven, Octavia, and Lincoln are sitting around the conference table watching Lexa bark orders through a video conference to what must be her generals.

" _Onya_ , we knew this wouldn't be an easy transition, but the Clans will fall in line." Abby pauses, as this is the first time she has truly seen Lexa as the Commander, and what a terrifying sight it is. The young brunette is all confidence, strength, and power despite her thing body. "Just do your best to keep things under control until I get there. I'll head over right now."

As Lexa's words process, Abby jumps into the conversation. "No, you will most certainly not!" Raven and Octavia jump in surprise, having not heard their pseudo-mother's approach, but Lexa and Lincoln appear unsurprised but confused at Abby's outburst. "I just finished Clarke's physical, and if you are anything near as injured as she is, there's no way you're going anywhere without medical attention."

Anya can only watch as Lexa straightens her back and clasps her hands tightly behind her back, hiding her frustration. "Thank you for your concern, Dr. Griffin, but we do have our own doctors at Polis, and they are more than capable of caring for my injuries, as soon as I have checked on Clarke and appeased the ambassadors."

Abby's brow wrinkles in determination, just like Clarke's does during an argument. "I promised my daughter that I would take care of you, and I won't break another promise to her. Your… general, correct?" Abby gestures at Anya, who nods her reply to Abby's question. "She can handle things until you are no longer in danger of dying from internal bleeding."

Anya knows Lexa is about to protest, so she speaks before her best friend has the chance to. "Abby is right, _Leksa. No bilaik branwada._ _Teik kare gon yu medo o Wanheda en yu nomonseken ste pis._ "

Lexa sighs but allows her posture to relax ever so slightly. "OK, I will submit to your medical exam before I head back to Polis." Lincoln chuckles at Anya's dressing down of Lexa while the rest of the women struggle to figure out what Anya has said to the commander to convince her to submit to a medical exam from her angry mother-in-law.

"Good. Let's go then." Abby turns away without another word and leads the tired brunette down the hallway towards the elevator. Neither of the women speak until they step out of the elevator onto the basement.

"Is _Klark_ alright?" Lexa whispers, needing the reassurance that she isn't going to lose her love. Clarke had seemed fine when they had returned to _Arkadia_ , or at least no worse than she was, but she had been unable to fully check her wife over before she had been forced to deal with squabbles that were already breaking out amongst the ambassadors.

Abby softens her gaze as she meets tired green eyes. She had promised Clarke that she was going to try to get to know Lexa and accept her, and that needed to start now. "I'm sure you're… fully aware of most of her injuries… I cleaned her wounds and stitched her up. I want to monitor her for internal bleeding and her head injury, but other than that and a few cracks in her ribs, she's going to make a full recovery."

Lexa lets out a shaky sigh of relief. "Thank you, Dr. Griffin."

Abby watches as Lexa rushes towards the sleeping blonde and starts whispering in the sleeping woman's ear, gently stroking her hair and cheek. The older blonde lets her daughter-in-law fuss over her daughter, but gently places her hand on the brunette's back after she has checked that Clarke is perfectly tucked in for the second time. "C'mon, Lexa. Let's get you checked out so you can rest. And please, call me Abby."

Lexa reluctantly allows herself to be led to another exam bed, but it is right next to Clarke so she can still watch her wife's gentle breathing. When Abby shoves a gown in her face, Lexa's attention is drawn back to the doctor, and she realizes that the woman was speaking to her. "Right. _Abbi_."

Abby gives Lexa a small smile and starts to draw the curtain around the bed. "I'll give you a minute to change into that while I get some supplies."

Lexa is confused at the suddenly kind treatment from her mother-in-law, but is too tired to question it. She manages to hold in the moans she wants to let out as she slowly and painfully strips off her clothes and puts on the stark white underwear and gown. As she is carefully folding her dirty clothes, Abby pulls back the curtain.

"I'll do the same with you as I did to Clarke, OK? Start from your head and move downward. I'm going to give you some fluids, and I need you to be completely honest with what hurts. Understand?" Abby meets and holds Lexa's intense stare until the green eyes dart down to the folded hands in her lap.

"I know not to lie to _fisas, Abbi_." Lexa grumbles out.

Abby quickly and carefully inserts the IV into Lexa's arm and tapes it into place. Quickly, she injects a dose of morphine into the line before Lexa can protest. She fiddles with her medical tools, stalling until Lexa's eyes have become dreamy, and she knows that the Commander is feeling the effects of the drug.

Abby starts to clean Lexa's face of the "war paint," making sure to get everything, from the dark streaks around her eyes to the gentle smudges on her nose from Clarke's "war paint." Lexa's face looks clear of any major injuries besides a few cuts, but Lexa gently prods the back of her head with a finger and winces. "This bump from when Clarke smashed my head into the stair railings doesn't hurt anymore." Lexa pokes it again, harder, before Abby can stop her. "Did you drug me?"

"I just gave you a little something to take the edge off, OK?" Abby shines the light in the brunette's eyes to check for a concussion, and confirms that she most likely has one but there are no signs indicating any further injury to her brain.

Lexa barely tolerates the flashlight before she is pushing Abby's arm away. Abby sighs, knowing that Lexa is going to be one of _those_ patients; that is, even worse than her daughter. Knowing she's going to need to work as quickly as possible, she unties Lexa's gown and sets it aside, nearly gasping as she sees that the brunette is just as injured as her daughter is.

Abby frowns as she catches sight of the already healing scrapes and stitches in Lexa's shoulder blade. She carefully runs her fingers over them, then puts a fresh bandage over them. "Whoever put these in needs to work on their technique. You'll most likely have a small scar, although it will barely be noticeable if you take care of it while it heals."

" _Jok Onya_." Lexa growls, clenching her fist, and while Abby has no idea what that means, she knows it isn't kind.

The doctor deviates from her initial plan by the state of Lexa's back, which looks as if it's just one large bruise. "Lexa, what happened to your back?"

Lexa twists, trying to see her back, but winces as it pulls on her ribs. "I hit a mirror during our waltz. Oh yeah! I used it to break my fall onto a chair. And Clarke slammed me into the fireplace. It was kind of hard to breathe after that, but that could have been because Clarke looked so beautiful." Lexa trails off as she remembers the fire and strength of her wife and how beautiful she had been even while they had been trying to kill each other.

Abby is horrified but also secretly glad that her baby gave as good as she got. Judging by the bruising on Lexa's back, however, her ribs are most likely broken, and she's going to need to wrap them as soon as she finishes with Lexa's other injuries. There are some angry raised scrapes running down her back as well, but she ignores them as the skin isn't broken. When Abby looks up from Lexa's injured back she finds the woman gazing with utmost love at a sleeping Clarke, and she can't help but smile at the sweet sight. Her eyes widen and she inhales a deep breath as the angle of Lexa's neck fully emphasizes several large hickeys on her daughter-in-law's neck and a line of bite marks down one shoulder, and the doctor realizes that the scrapes on Lexa's back come from a moment of passion and not a moment of anger.

Lexa is broken from her adoration of Clarke upon hearing Abby's sudden intake of breath, and she flushes bright red when she catches Abby's line of sight. Lexa slaps a hand over her shoulder, trying to hide the sex wounds, but winces as this only presses on the shoulder she had dislocated. Lexa tries to smile innocently, pressing her hand tightly into her shoulder.

Abby rolls her eyes and tries to pry Lexa's fingers off her shoulder. "Lexa, I've already seen them, just let me check out your shoulder!"

"Seen what? There's nothing to see here!"

Abby picks up another shot of morphine and injects some more into Lexa's IV. After a moment, the woman's body relaxes and her hand falls off her shoulder, allowing Abby to see the bruising around the socket. She carefully rotates the joint, watching Lexa for signs of discomfort.

"Clarke fixed it already. I'm fine." Lexa pouts, trying not to wince at the tightness of her shoulder.

"I'm going to have to X-ray you to make sure everything is back in its correct place, and you're going to need to wear a sling for the next few weeks." Abby carefully applies some burn ointment to Lexa's forearm before she settles the brunette's left arm into a sling. At this point, Lexa has reached the same stage of exhaustion as Clarke, so Abby carefully lays her down on the table.

With Lexa's right arm at her side now and not clutching her waist, Abby finally catches sight of the bullet wound in Lexa's right abdomen. "Lexa! You were shot? Why didn't you say anything!"

Lexa shrinks into herself as Abby pulls out some tools and nearly whimpers as the woman starts prodding the wound, trying to find the bullet still inside her abdomen. "I thought I was going to die when it happened. But then there was an angel who came to rescue me. She was _so_ beautiful."

Abby sighs as she hears the brunette call her daughter an angel. She doesn't know how she had been so blind to the intense love they clearly shared for each other. Finally, she pulls the bullet from Lexa's wound and carefully checks for internal bleeding or any nicked arteries, but it appears that Lexa was truly blessed, as no fresh blood comes from the wound. "Any other bullets I should be worried about?"

Lexa smiles and shakes her head. "No, I had a bullet proof vest on." She then proceeds to happily poke all the circular bruises across her abdomen that she can't feel but can see. "Oh, and this one is from Clarke's knee."

Abby sighs and grabs both of the brunette's hands. "Anything else hurt? Or was hurting but doesn't anymore?"

Lexa adopts a confused frown, as she fights through the fog in her brain to remember what had been hurting. She proceeds to show Abby the bruise on her hip where "I jumped out of the car to get away from Clarke. But why did I do that, I don't ever want to leave Clarke again."

'Again?' Abby thinks, but knows this is a question for later. In fact, she might not even want to know at this point.

"My knees hurt. And my thigh. And my foot." Lexa wiggles her toes and winces, and Abby helps Lexa scoot backwards on the bed so her legs are no longer hanging off it. Lexa watches as Abby wraps both of her knees with gauze and tries to remember what the cuts were from. "All must bow before the mighty _Wanheda_." Lexa mumbles, remembering how the broken glass in the kitchen had cut into her knees.

Abby ignores Lexa's ramblings and examines the bruise on her thigh, which was about the size of a foot. Someone must have kicked her, and _hard_. But the bruise will heal, so Abby finally reaches the last part of Lexa's injured body: her foot. A small but perfectly circular and dark bruise is in the middle of her foot. The bruise is so dark, Abby thinks that it might be broken, and grabs the X-ray machine.

"Clarke needs dance lessons." Lexa mumbles, and Abby surmises that the bruise must have come from a heel. By the time Abby has X-rayed Lexa's foot and determined that it is broken, Lexa is fully asleep. Abby puts a black cast on Lexa's foot and X-rays the woman's ribs, finding that they are indeed broken. The doctor wraps them tightly and then scans Lexa's brain, confirming that there is no internal bleeding in the brunette's brain. Just as she is smoothing out Lexa's hair, green eyes shoot wide open.

"Clarke? Where is she?"

Abby puts one hand on Lexa's uninjured shoulder and one on her cheek to soothe her and prevent her from getting up. "Clarke's fine, she's sleeping."

Lexa turns her head and a tear slips out of one eye as she finally sees her favorite blonde. "I love you, Clarke, my sweet angel." Lexa reaches out, the drugs impairing her judgement, and whines when she realizes that she can't reach her wife.

Realizing what Lexa wants, Abby pushes her bed over next to Clarke's, and Lexa picks up Clarke's hand and interlaces their fingers. Clarke groans and her eyes blink open slowly, blue meeting green once again.

"Lex, you're OK. You're here." Clarke mumbles as a smile overtakes her face.

"Of course, my love. I'll always be with you."

The two women fight the drug and their exhaustion as long as they can, but barely a moment later both drift off again, hands still intertwined.

Abby brushes her tears away at the sweet display and then hooks both of her daughters up the various monitors before dimming the lights around their bed and heading back to her office. If anything happens, she'll be able to hear the alarms and provide care for either of them.

Soon, Abby falls into an exhausted sleep, but is awakened in the early morning as she feels a body slide behind her onto the cot. Rough facial hair tickles the back of her neck and a familiar arm wraps around her waist.

"They're both alright?" Marcus whispers into her ear as he settles himself onto the bed.

"I'm honestly not sure how they managed to do anything with the extensive injuries they have, but yes, they're both going to be fine."

"Good." The man hums, almost asleep already.

Abby smiles as she interlaces her fingers with Marcus' hand, completely content in the arms of her new lover while able to look upon her two peacefully resting daughters.


	39. Epilogue

Several weeks later…

Dr. Nyko sits in his office for his last appointment of the day, staring at the two women before him – his most challenging couple. However, unlike the last time he saw them, the two women have scooted their chairs close together and are smiling at each other, practically ignoring him. The brunette's left arm is in a sling and her right foot in a cast, and the blonde has some fading bruises on her face and a still healing laceration across her cheek. Despite their injuries, both women are smiling and whispering to each other, which only confuses him.

After another moment where the happy couple doesn't even acknowledge him, Nyko decides to break the silence. "I'm interested in the progress you've made in the last few weeks."

Lexa kisses Clarke's still bruised knuckles and gently lays them in her lap before speaking. "Thank you. We're doing much better. I won't lie, there's been some tough times, times where I've just wanted to…"

As Lexa trails off, Clarke picks up her thought. "Times where we've just wanted to kill each other. But till death do we part, right?"

Nyko is thoroughly confused as to why those words have sparked such loving looks in the two women, but he isn't going to question it. If these two incredibly odd women are doing better, maybe this means he will never have to see them again. "That's… good. Sometimes you just have to battle through."

Lexa tears her gaze away from bright blue, hoping to hurry this appointment up so she can get back to spending the time she took off work to heal with her wife. "That's marriage."

"So, let's talk through any other major events in your life that could be causing problems. Were you two in an… accident?"

Clarke looks momentarily confused, until she realizes that Nyko is talking about their clearly injured state. "Oh! We… redid the house."

"We did, yes we did. Some purging, new decorations. Nothing too major." Lexa sends Nyko an innocent smile, but he is still perplexed about their major injuries.

"Well, good for you two then. I'm pleased that you are undertaking this challenge together. That's a keystone to a successful marriage: handling any challenge as a team."

"So far, we've made a great team." The brunette tells him.

"So far?" The blonde growls, narrowing her eyes at her wife.

Lexa shrugs and smiles sweetly. "I'm leaving room for the unknown."

The two continue the conversation with miniscule facial expressions that Nyko cannot decipher, so he decides to wrap up the appointment with one more question. "Do you feel that your relationship styles are conducive to…"

"Ask us the sex question."

Nyko is flabbergasted, unable to make more than a grunted, "Uh…" He never would have expected that to come from the stoic brunette. He notices that while the blonde is flushing red, her proud smirk is just as large as her wife's.

Lexa tries to hold up 10 fingers, but is stopped by her still restrained left arm. She turns and pouts at her blonde wife, who holds up both hands with only 9 fingers. "Nine." The blonde tells the doctor, with a wink towards her wife.

"Nine?" Lexa mock glares at her wife.

Clarke shrugs and smiles sweetly, "I'm leaving room for the unknown."

With nothing more than a smile, the two get to their feet as quickly as they can - although still slowed considerably by their injuries - and help each other limp from the room while Nyko just watches them leave. Hopefully this is the last he sees of this couple; he's sure that their relationship was forged in dramatic events that doesn't even want to think about.


End file.
